Rain hits ATS Korea, all three Indians poised to make the cut

After a bright start on Friday, Pranavi Urs had her share of struggles in round two of the Aramco Team Series Korea in Seoul on Saturday. Image courtesy WGAI.

By Rahul Banerji

Heavy rain struck midway through round two of the Aramco Team Series (ATS) Korea, forcing an early end to play with all three Indians in the field placed to make the cut in Seoul.

Tied second overnight, Pranavi Urs was the only one to have finished her second round, following her 3 under 69 with a 5 over 77 to slip into a share of 14^th place.

Diksha Dagar, in her 100^th Ladies European Tour event, had begun a recovery from her disappointing 7 over opening round and had climbed to within the cut line of 7 over 151 and was 1 under in her incomplete second round.

Vani Kapoor too was on the bubble at 151 after two completed rounds and now needs to wait before her entry into Sunday’s final round is confirmed with the op 60 and ties making it through.

While Diksha is tied for 50^th place, Vani is T55 and right on the line.

At the top, after play was suspended at the event presented by PIF – Korea, Colombia’s Mariajo Uribe was a stroke clear on 5 under par while Kang’s group had the clubhouse lead on 23 under in the team event.

With the rain coming down at New Korea Country Club play was called off at 4:15 pm local time on Saturday, the LET website said.

Early start

Those yet to finish their second rounds in both the team and individual competitions will return early on Sunday, 54 players and 18 teams in all.

NSW Open winner Uribe has eight holes remaining in her second round after starting one shot behind home star Hoo-Jyo Kim. The Colombian however leapfrogged the major winner after chipping in for eagle on the par-5 17th.

Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup and Germany’s Carolin Kauffmann had the clubhouse lead on 1 under 143 having completed their rounds while world no 8 Charley Hull shared that score with nine holes to go in round two.

In the team event, Danielle Kang’s squad of England’s Lily May Humphreys, China’s Tian Xiaolin and amateur Lee were the clubhouse leaders on 23-under par.

On Friday, Pranavi’s opening 3 under 69 for tied second place was built around five birdies against two dropped shots while Vani (77) was T70 and Diksha had eight dropped shots against a closing birdie.

Pranavi, who is a multiple winner on the domestic Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, was also tied for fourth in the team competition along with Singapore’s Shannon Tan (73), and Vani.

Pranavi had two birdies against one bogey on the front nine and would drop one more shot against three gained shots for a strong finish.

Also read: Diksha tees off in her 100th start on Ladies European Tour