Error-free Ridhima holds early lead in KGA leg of Hero WPGT

By Rahul Banerji

Ridhima Dilawari returned a clean card to take a three-shot lead over the field on the opening day of the Hero WPG Tour’s eighth leg at the Karnataka Golf Association course in Bangalore on Wednesday.

The flawless 3-under 69 put her well clear of the pack headed by three little-known young players who all returned level par scores with better-known names further down the order.

Ridhima, who has not won on the Hero WPGT since January last year, had three birdies in a row around the turn and parred the rest on an error-free day.

Agrima Manral (17), Disha Kavery (18) and Trimann Saluja (20) were in a tie for second place with 72s each.

Jahanvi Bakshi and Afshan Fatima were tied for fifth on 73s, while Lakhmehar Pardesi, Pranavi Urs and amateurs Jia Katariya and Smriti Bhargav were tied seventh on 2-over 74.

Cashing in

Ridhima will be keen to make the most of her start as she has had some good early cards in the season only to give away the advantage.

Trimann Saluja was impressive with six birdies, but she also dropped as many shits, making for a card of six birdies, six pars and six bogeys.

Agrima had four birdies and four pars, while Disha was hit by a double bogey in a round that otherwise had four birdies and two bogeys.

Pranavi Urs was not at her best but has often made up in the last two rounds.

She had two birdies against four bogeys. Last week’s runner-up Asmitha Sathish had a rough outing with a round of 76, with two bogeys, a double and no birdies to be tied-15^th.

Scores and round 2 tee times

7 am: Anaggha Venkatesh 90; Anisha Agarwalla 85; Geetika Ahuja 84

7:10 am: Mehar Atwal 83; Ananya Datar 82; Marshneil Prasad 82

7:20 am: Rhea Purvi Saravanan 81; Millie Saroha 79; Neha Tripathi 79

7:30 am: Khushi Khanijau 79; Gauri Karhade 79; Rishika Muralidhar (A) 79

7:45 am: Shweta Mansingh 78; Ishvari Prasanna 78; Rhea Jha 76

7:55 am: Astha Madan 76; Jahnavi Prakhya (A) 76; Siddhi Kapoor 76

8:05 am: Asmitha Sathish 76; Jyotsana Singh 76; Suchitra Ramesh 76

8:15 am: Seher Atwal 76; Saanvi Somu (A) 75; Heena Kang (A) 75

8:30 am: Gaurika Bishnoi 75; Durga Nittur 75; Smriti Bhargav (A) 74

8:40 am: Pranavi Urs 74; Jia Kataria (A) 74; Lakhmehar Pardesi 74

8:50 am: Afshan Fatima 73; Jahanvi Bakshi 73; Disha Kavery 72

9 am: Agrima Manral 72; Trimann Saluja 72; Ridhima Dilawari 69

Also read: Confident Pranavi chases fourth win of Hero WPGT season