Amateur Saanvi Somu on her way into the second round lead at the BPGC in Mumbai on Wednesday. Image courtesy WGAI.
By Rahul Banerji
Saanvi Somu played bogey-free golf to take the second-round lead in the fourth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Tour at Bombay Presidency Golf Club on Wednesday.
The 16-year-old carded a 2 under par 68 to become the second amateur in as many days after Mannat Brar to lead the Mumbai event, the WGAI said.
Saanvi, who is also headed to Vietnam for next week’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship has been runner-up multiple times on the Hero WPGT including at the first leg this season.
On Wednesday, Saanvi followed her opening 73 with 11 straight pars before her first birdie on the Par-4 12th hole.
A further five steady pars followed by a closing birdie gave her a 68 and a 1 over 141 total, one stroke ahead of Gurgaon’s Vani Kapoor, who added a level par 70 to her first round 72.
Vani, who will soon be back on the international circuit, had three birdies and three bogeys in her first 11 holes, and parred the last seven.
Amateur Anuradha Chaudhuri with a 70 was part of the three-way tie for second place with Vani and Seher Atwal (72-70).
Lavanya Jadon, who began the day with a bogey, did well to pick four birdies between the fifth and the 14th as she shot even par 70 and for tied fifth alongside Jasmine Shekar (72-71, 3 over 143), a two-time winner in 2024.
Closer race
On a tight leader board which has a dozen players within four shots, Gaurika Bishnoi (75-69) was sole seventh.
The DLF golfer began with the day’s only eagle and then had nine pars on the trot.
Gaurika then dropped back-to-back shots on holes 11 and 12 but picked a birdie on 18 for a 69 which was the day’s second best after Saanvi’s 68.
Mannat (68-77) was tied for eighth alongside 2024 merit topper Hitaashee Bakshi (72-73), Shweta Mansingh (70-75), Disha Kavery (74-71) and Kriti Chowhan (70-75) on 5 over 145.
Mannat, who had a superb first round, faltered on Wednesday and went seven over with three bogeys and two doubles.
Ridhima Dilawari (74-72) was T-13 with Ananya Datar and Durga Nittur.
Sneha Singh, winner of the last two events, had another off-day as she followed her first round 73 with a 74 and for shared 16th.
At 7-over 147 she is six behind the leader but a low final round can give her a run at a title hat-trick having won the last two legs.
Scores and round 3 tee times
8 am: Shagun Narain 150, Anisha Agarwalla 150
8:10 am: Khushi Khanijau 149, Neha Tripathi 148
8:20 am: Sachika Singh 148, Amandeep Drall 148, Karishma Govind 148
8:30 am: Agrima Manral 148, Keerthana Rajeev (A) 147, Sneha Singh 147
8:40 am: Ananya Datar 146, Ridhima Dilawari 146, Durga Nittur 146
8:50 am: Mannat Brar (A) 145, Kriti Chowhan 145, Shweta Mansingh 145
9:05 am: Hitaashee Bakshi 145, Disha Kavery 145, Gaurika Bishnoi 144
9:15 am: Jasmine Shekar 143, Lavanya Jadon 143, Seher Atwal 142
9:25 am: Anuradha Chaudhuri (A) 142, Vani Kapoor 142, Saanvi Somu (A) 141
Also read: Amateur Mannat Brar sets early pace at BPGC leg of Hero WPGT
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