Rookie Nayanika Sanga leads by one in 13th leg of Hero WPGT

By Rahul Banerji

Nayanika Sanga fired an eye-catching two-under par 70 to take a one-shot lead after the opening round of the WPGT event at the DLF course in Gurgaon on Tuesday.

The rookie, who has been trending well over the last few starts on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, led favourite Pranavi Urs and the experienced Gaurika Bishnoi on the testing Black Knight layout.

Despite three bogeys midway through the round, Nayanika, who was joint runner-up in the 10th leg at Prestige Golfshire in Bangalore, also sank five birdies.

She started the day with a birdie, finished with another and in between picked up three more shots on either side of the turn.

Gurgaon-based Nayanika has also finished fourth, sixth and seventh in three other events apart her Golfshire performance.

Pranavi, a five-time winner from 12 starts this season, had a steady round, though she began with a bogey.

She got that back on the fourth and then parred the rest till 18, which she birdied again.

Birdie bundle

Gaurika Bishnoi had the most birdies during the day with seven, but she also gave away four shots and a double bogey

With only three players carding under par, Shweta Mansingh was fourth with a 74, while Seher Atwal, Khushi Khanijau and Oviya Reddi had rounds of three-over 75 each.

Rishika Muralidhar was the top amateur with 77 and she was tied eighth alongside Sneha Singh.

Five players, including Neha Tripathi and Ridhima Dilawari, were tied for 10^th with rounds of 78 each.

The other three were Agrima Manral and amateurs Jasmine Shekar and Vidhatri Urs.

Scores and round 2 tee times

7:50 am: Khushi. 98; Ragini Navet (A) 88

8 am: Anisha Agarwalla 86; Gauri Karhade 85; Shagun Narain 84

8:10 am: Jia Kataria (A) 83; Rhea Purvi Saravanan 83; Millie Saroha 83

8:20 am: Ananya Datar 83; Riya Yadav 82; Snigdha Goswami (A) 82;

8:35 am: Rhea Jha 82; Disha Kavery 82; Hitaashee Bakshi 80

8:45 am: Lakhmehar Pardesi 79; Ishvari Prasanna 79; Jyotsana Singh 79;

8:55 am: Saaniya Sharma 79; Ridhima Dilawari 78; Vidhatri Urs (A) 78

9:05 am: Neha Tripathi 78; Jasmine Shekar (A) 78; Agrima Manral 78

9:20 am: Sneha Singh 77; Rishika Muralidhar (A) 77; Oviya Reddi 75

9:30 am: Khushi Khanijau 75; Seher Atwal 75; Shweta Mansingh 74

9:40 am: Gaurika Bishnoi 71; Pranavi Urs 71; Nayanika Sanga 70

Also read: Form player Pranavi seeks to extend victory run on WPGT at DLF