Jasmine Shekar snatches Rambagh lead with closing birdie

Jasmine Shekar will take a one-shot advantage into Saturday’s final round in the Jaipur leg of the Hero WPGT at Rambagh Golf Club after a steady second round on Friday. Image courtesy WGAI..

By Rahul Banerji

Jasmine Shekar birdied her closing hole for the outright lead after the second round of the 14th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at Jaipur’s Rambagh Golf Club on Friday.

Jasmine, who opened with a 74, added a level par 70 to total 4 over par total of 144, a shot up the road from Vani Kapoor (75-70) and Ridhima Dilawari (74-71), who between them have won six times this season. 

Also in a share of second alongside Vani and Ridhima was Durga Nittur (73-72) at 5 over 145, the WGAI said.

Overnight leaders Ananya Datar (71-75) and amateur Ojaswini Saraswat (71-76) slipped to fifth and sixth place respectively.

Jasmine’s birdie on the last proved particularly valuable, giving her the outright lead on a tightly-contested leaderboard and setting up an intriguing final round.

Apart from Jasmine’s level par 70, Vani produced one of the day’s more assured performances, returning a 70 after opening with a 75. 

Her round was built around consistency and a strong finish, as she negotiated the challenges of the Jaipur course to make up ground on the leaders.

Jasmine had three bogeys in the first six holes and then birdied holes 8, 14 and 18 to claw back to even par.

Tough conditions

Vani bogeyed seven and got the shot back on 14 as scoring continued to be challenging at Rambagh.

Ridhima followed her opening 74 with a 1 over 71 with an early birdie against two dropped shots on the front nine.

Her inbound nine included one birdie and a bogey and her ability to stay in contention through two rounds gives her a genuine opportunity heading into the final day.

Durga Nittur also remains in title contention alongside Vani and Ridhima. Her opening nine was solid, although a two-over back nine prevented her from taking a share of the lead.

The second round also saw the first-round leaders lose ground. Ananya Datar, who had set the pace with a one-over 71 on Thursday, slipped to a five-over 75 and dropped to fifth at 146. 

She is now two shots behind Jasmine but remains close enough to mount a challenge.

Ojaswini also had a difficult day, cardinng a 6 over 76 to hold sixth place at 147, three shots off the lead.

Riya Jadon was seventh with rounds of 74 and 74, while Lavanya Jadon and Shweta Mansingh shared eighth place at 149.

Mannat Brar, Sneha Sharan, Amandeep Drall, Shagun Narain and Khushi Khanijau were tied for 10th at 150.

Scores and round 3 tee times

7:30 am: Eti Chaudhary 158, Ravjot Dosanjh 158, Sneha Singh 158

7:40 am: Rhea Jha 158, Snigdha Goswami 157, Yaalisai Verma 157

7:50 am: Tvesa Malik 156, Janneya Dasanniee 156, Anaggha Venkatesh 155

8 am: Seher Atwal 154, Smriti Bhargav 154, Neha Tripathi 153

8:10 am: Jahnavi Prakhya 151, Khushi Khanijau 150, Shagun Narain 150

8:25 am: Amandeep Drall 150, Sneha Sharan 150, Mannat Brar 150

8:35 am: Shweta Mansingh 149, Lavanya Jadon 149, Riya Jadon 148

8:45 am: Ojaswini Saraswat (A), 147 Ananya Datar 146, Durga Nittur 145

8:55 am: Ridhima Dilawari 145, Vani Kapoor 145, Jasmine Shekar 144

Also read: Amateur Ojaswini, Ananya share lead in Jaipur leg of Hero WPGT