Lakhmehar hangs on to one-shot lead at Tolly WPGT event

By Rahul Banerji

Overnight leader Lakhmehar Pardesi stayed ahead of the pack after round two of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour event at the Tollygunge Club in Kolkata on Thursday.

The Chandigarh golfer, who broke through for her maiden title earlier this year at Noida, is seeking to join the group of multiple winners in 2021 as the season nears its end.

Lakhmehar (71-74) leads by one shot over Saaniya Sharma (74-72) and Ridhima Dilawari (73-73).

When she began with a birdie, one of the only two players to do so in the entire day, it seemed Lakhmehar might extend her two-shot lead to more by the end of the day.

A string of pars was followed by back-to-back bogeys on seven and eight, but Lakhmehar fought back with birdie on nine. She turned in level par and her 34 was the best front nine of the day as it played tough.

On the back nine Lakhmehar struggled with five bogeys in seven holes between 11 and 17 and seemed to fall before a birdie on 18 ensured the sole lead at 5-over 145.

Saaniya had a nice run of three birdies in a row between 10 and 12 and overall she had five.

Roller-coaster ride

She may well have been the leader but for a double bogey on the par-4 fifth and a crippling triple on 13. The experienced golfer also finished with bogeys on 17 and 18 on a roller-coaster day.

Ridhima too, had a rough finish even though a birdie on 18 was a consolation. After bogeys on the second and fourth, she picked a shot on the par-3 eighth.

On the back nine she began with a birdie to get to even par for the day. Bogeys on 15 and 16  and a double on 17 set her back but a birdie helped make up slightly for the losses.

Shweta Mansingh (75) was fourth while Jyotsana Singh (78) was fifth. Amateur Zara Anand did not manage any birdies in her 76 and was tied-sixth alongside two other amateurs Smriti Bhargava (78) and Jahnavi Prakhya (79).

Neha Tripathi (77) and amateur Nishna Patel (78) completed the top 10.

Round 3 tee times and scores

9 am: Rhea Jha 167, Ishvari Prasanna 165

9:10 am: Rhea Purvi S. 161, Anisha Agarwalla 160, Rishika Muralidhar (A) 159

9:20 am: Oviya Reddi 157, Khushi Khanijau 156, Nishna Patel (A) 155

9:35 am: Neha Tripathi 155, Jahnavi Prakhya (A)154, Smriti Bhargav (A) 154

9:45 am: Zara Anand (A) 154, Jyotsana Singh 153, Shweta Mansingh 150

9:55 am: Ridhima Dilawari 146, Saaniya Sharma 146, Lakhmehar Pardesi 145

Also read: Lakhmehar takes two-shot lead in Tolly leg of Hero WPGT