Chennai teenager Oviya takes lead in third leg of Hero WPG Tour

By Rahul Banerji

Chennai girl Oviya Reddi made good use of familiar conditions to bring in her best round as a professional on the first day of the third leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the TNGF Cosmo Golf Course on Wednesday.

On 1-over par 73, Oviya was in the sole lead, one shot ahead of her closest pursuer, Amandeep Drall (74) and two up on second leg winner Ananya Datar (75).

This is the first Women’s Golf Association of India on the Cosmo layout.

The 19-year-old Oviya, who turned professional midway through the 2019 season, has been improving steadily. On Wednesday, she had four birdies against three bogeys and one double.

Late woes

Oviya was four-under after seven holes with four early birdies before dropping a double bogey on the over next hole. She then steadied herself with a series of pars before dropping a further three shots to close on a 73.

Trained by Gaurav Diwan and also S. Jayanan, Oviya was seventh in the second leg at BPGC in January.

Amandeep Drall, whose last win was at the10th leg last season, shot 74 with no birdies and two bogeys.

Ananya Datar, who was in the first group of the day, seemed to be heading for a good score as she was one-over after the 15^th with two birdies against three bogeys. Two further dropped shots then saw her fall to a 75.

Hyderabad amateur Sneha Singh, who won a Hero WPGT event last year, was going well uptil the 10^th hole before dropping four shots in a row on her back nine. A birdie before she wrapped up however was some consolation as she ended the day on a 4-over 76.

Big group

Six players including Ishvari Prasanna, who had the day’s only eagle two with a hole out on the par-4 second, were tied for fifth on 77s, the others being Sonam Chugh, Siddhi Kapoor, Afshan Fatima, Neha Tripathi and Gursimar Badwal.

Second leg winner and new pro Pranavi Urs struggled to an 8-over 80 in her first round with six pars and then a birdie early on. After that though, Pranavi had one triple, a double bogey a further four bogeys.

She will look to bounce back after strong performances in the season’s first two events that saw her finish second and then first, before deciding to turn pro.

Vani Kapoor returned a 79 with one birdie against eight bogeys, six of which came on the back nine.

Meanwhile, Diksha Dagar, Ridhima Dilawari and Astha Madan will be playing in Australia over the next few weeks at the Australian Ladies Classic Bonville and the New South Wales Open, both Ladies European Tour events.

Scores and groupings

Mehar Atwal 85; Geetika Ahuja 85; Trimann Saluja 84

Anisha Agarwalla 83; Smriti Mehra 81; Pranavi Urs 80

Vani Kapoor 79; Khushi Khanijau 79; Saaniya Sharma 79

Jyotsana Singh 79; Gurjot Badwal 78; Gursimar Badwal 77

Neha Tripathi 77; Afshan Fatima 77; Siddhi Kapoor 77

Sonam Chugh 77; Ishvari Prasanna 77; Sneha Singh (A) 76

Ananya Datar 75; Amandeep Drall 74; Oviya Reddi 73

Also read: No slip-up this time as Pranavi seals the win; turns professional