Amateurs call the shots on day 1 of WPGT event at Golfshire

By Rahul Banerji

Khushi Khanijau sank a late birdie to pull alongside Keerthana Rajeev Nair in the lead as amateurs continued to show out for s second straight event on the Hero women’s pro tour.

Making it a three-way tie at the top on 1 under 71 was another amateur and previous leg winner Vidhatri Urs in the 10^th leg at Prestige Golfshire on Wednesday.

A fortnight ago, Vidhatri smashed the field at the same venue to win by a massive 13 shots from fellow am Saanvi Somu.

Three others led by the experienced Tvesa Malik alongside IGU Order of Merit leader Mannat Brar and rookie pro, Kriti Chowhan shot level par 72s each.

Tight race

Four players, including two more amateurs, Saanvi Somu and Prakruthi Sastry, were tied for seventh place alongside Ananya Datar and Neha Tripathi on 1-over 73.

With five in the top 10, amateurs were once in the spotlight as they have been at recent Hero WPGT events.

Keerthana, runner-up in the eighth leg, had an action-packed round with six birdies, three on either side of the course.

But she also had two bogeys and a double on the ninth though she went bogey-free for the second stretch over which she birdied thrice.

Vidhatri had three birdies against one bogey on the front nine and a further dropped shot on the back nine.

Khushi, the best pro on the day, had three birdies against two bogeys to ensure her sub par card and a share of the lead with the pickup on 18.

Tvesa Malik searching for some form of late birdied twice but dropped as many shots for her level par 72.

Scores and round 2 tee times

11:15 am: Anvitha Narender 82, Disha Kavery 82

11:25 am: Durga Nittur 82, Oviya Reddi 81

11:35 am: Anaggha Venkatesh 81, Rhea Purvi S. 81, Nayanika Sanga 80

11:45 am: Vrinda Yadav 79, Ishvari Prasanna 79, Saaniya Sharma 79

11:55 am: Ravjot K Dosanjh 79, Sachika Singh 79, Asmitha Sathish 79

12:10 pm: Suchitra Ramesh 78, Riya Yadav 78, Rhea Jha 78

12:20 pm: Snigdha Goswami 78, Shweta Mansingh 77, Anisha Agarwalla 77

12:30 pm: Rishika Muralidhar 77, Jyotsana Singh 76, Agrima Manral 76

12:40 pm: Gauri Karhade 76, Hitaashee Bakshi 75, Jasmine Shekar 74

12:55 pm: Sneha Singh 74, Karishma Govind 74, Neha Tripathi 73

1:05 pm: Prakruthi Sastry (A) 73, Saanvi Somu (A) 73, Ananya Datar 73

1:15 pm: Kriti Chowhan 72, Mannat Brar (A) 72, Tvesa Malik 72

1:25 pm: Vidhatri Urs (A) 71, Keerthana Rajeev (A) 71, Khushi Khanijau 71

Also read: Tvesa, Sneha face amateur challenge at Hero WPGT 10th leg