Anika Varma sits mid-pack in USGA jr women’s c’ship

By Rahul Banerji

Top Indian junior Anika Varma was in shared 47^th place with a 2-over par 74 after the first round of the 71st annual US Girls Championship at the SentryWorld Golf Course in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, on Monday.

Noida-based Anika came through in one of the 41 qualifying events for the United States Golf Association’s premier tournament for junior women that will have a field of 156. She sits nine shots off the pace after the opening day’s action.

Follow the action here: U.S. GIRLS’ JUNIOR

Anika made a shaky opening with two bogeys in her first three holes but largely steadied the ship thereafter. She reduced the deficit with a 5^th-hole birdie but dropped a further shot to make the turn on 2-over par 38.

Her inbound nine was a far steadier effort that balanced one bogey against a birdie with the rest being pars on the par-72 6,305-yard SentryWorld course.

Yuka Saso of the Philippines was the day one leader with a flawless round of 65 that contained seven birdies against no dropped shots. She was three shots ahead of Americans Sophia Bae and early leader Nicole Adam, and China’s Lei Ye, all of whom were on 4-under 68s.

Sixth in the Indian Golf Union’s amateur ladies order of merit having appeared in five of the 11 events counted towards the rankings, the Romit Bose trainee plans to play the US Women’s Amateur Qualifying to be held in Roseville next.

Lucky escape

Over the weekend, the event venue was hit by storms that blew through the area, though the SentryWorld Golf Course escaped major damage, a local newspaper, the Appleton Post-Crescent said.

“We received approximately 2.20 inches of rain in the last 24 hours. There was one downed tree near the driving range. Nothing reported that would affect the course on Monday though!” Julia Pine, senior manager of Women’s Championship Communications for the United States Golf Association, noted.

The US Girls Junior Championship is one of 14 annual championships put on by the USGA annually. This is the 15th USGA championship to be held in Wisconsin, and the first since the 2017 US Open won by Brooks Koepka at Erin Hills, the paper noted.

SentryWorld is the first Wisconsin course to host the US Girls Junior Championship, the USGA added.

Quiet finish

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Arjun Atwal slipped down the field on the final day of the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship to finish 72^nd with a 4-over par 76 after cards of 71, 69 and 70 on the first three days.

Atwal’s final round had two bogeys and two doubles to offset two birdies for a 2-under 286 aggregate even as the USA’s Jim Herman topped the field with a 26-under aggregate of 262, one shot ahead of Kelly Kraft at the $3.5 million tournament.

Up next on the PGA Tour after the excitement of Shane Lowry’s title-winning performance at The Open Championship in Ireland, is the $10.25 million World Golf Championship-FedEx Cup St Jude Invitational in Memphis from Thursday next.

Also read: Round of 63 gives Arjun Bhati title at Callaway World Jrs in California