Khushi Khanijau grabs Hero WPGT seventh leg day two lead

Second day leader Khushi Khanijau of Jaipur who had the day’s only sub-par round at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club in Mysore on Friday. Image courtesy WGAI.

By Rahul Banerji

Past winner Khushi Khanijau moved into the lead on day two of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour’s seventh leg at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club in Mysore on Friday.

Khushi, whose only win came at Kolkata in 2021, picked up three shots for the day’s only sub-par card of 1 under 69 to go with an opening 72 and a 36-hole total of 141.

She leads Jasmine Shekar (71-71), tied for second overnight, by a shot with a day to go.

Local golfer and overnight leader Vidhatri Urs, playing her first event as a pro, faltered on the back nine, giving away four strokes in three holes against a lone birdie on the day.

After her win in 2021, the 24-year-old Khushi came close to a second success but ended runner-up last year at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon.

Another player making a good upward move was the seasoned Gaurika Bishnoi, who began well by being 2-under on the front nine.

She gave away those gains with two bogeys on the back nine for a card of 70 and on 3 over 143, she is tied for third with Vidhatri.

Triple blow

Vidhatri suffered back-to-back bogeys on the fourth and the fifth holes, but made up with a birdie on the sixth.

On the back nine, she dropped shots on holes 12 and 15 and then had a double bogey on 16. A closing birdie though kept her within two shots of Khushi.

Astha Madan (74-71) was fifth and another new pro, Anvitha Narender (74-72) was sixth.

Amandeep Drall, trying to recapture the form that put her on the Ladies European Tour and brought her within a whisker of the Hero Women’s Indian Open title two years ago, made a seven-shot improvement on her first round 77.

She is now tied seventh with amateur Mannat Brar (75-72) and Rhea Purvi Saravanan (73-74).

Sneha Singh, the 2023 Order of Merit winner, and Ananya Garg, who was tied second after the first round, shared tenth place. Ananya after a first round 71 dropped down with a second round of 77.

The lead group for the final round will see Khushi alongside Jasmine Shekar, who is searching for her first win after numerous runner-up finishes and Gaurika.

Vidhatri will be in the next to last group alongside fellow debutant Anvitha and Astha Madan.

The cut fell at 155 and 21 players made the final round.

Scores and round 2 tee times 

8 am: Ravjot K. Dosanjh 155, Sachika Singh 155, Keerthana Rajeev (A) 154;

8:10 am: Vrinda Yadav 152, Anisha Agarwalla 152, Gauri Karhade 151;

8:20 am: Rhea Jha 151, Shweta Mansingh 149, Saanvi Somu (A) 149;

8:30 am: Karishma Govind 149, Ananya Garg 148, Sneha Singh 148;

8:45 am: Rhea Purvi Saravanan 147, Mannat Brar (A) 147, Amandeep Drall 147;

8:55 am: Anvitha Narender 146, Astha Madan 145, Vidhatri Urs 143;

9:05 am: Gaurika Bishnoi 143, Jasmine Shekar 142, Khushi Khanijau 141;

Also read: Notable pro debut for Vidhatri Urs gives her the early lead