Seher Atwal stays ahead as Avani, Amandeep close in at BPGC

By Rahul Banerji

Seher Atwal moved a step closer to her maiden professional title with a 1-under round of 69 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club on Thursday.

The 22-year-old overcame a double bogey on the back nine to stay three shots clear of the field on day two of the third leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf event.

Seher followed her first day’s 65 to sit on 6-under 134 after two days, three shots up on amateur Avani Prashanth (70) and Order of Merit leader Amandeep Drall (71), both on 3-under 137s.

Hitaashee Bakshi added a 71 to her first round 66 and at 139 sits in sole fourth place.

Rhea Purvi Sarvanan had a 4-under 66 to climb from overnight tied 16th to a share of fifth place on level par 140 with Vani Kapoor (68-72) and Jahanvi Bakshi (66-74).

Ace blitz

The tournament threw up yet another hole-in-one as amateur Nishna Patel became the third player to get an ace in the official rounds, on the par-3 13^th.

Dugra Nittur and Lakhmehar Pardesi aced the p-3 10^th on the first day while in the practice round, Ridhima Dilawari produced one as well.

Nishna (72-69) moved into the top 10 and was tied eighth with fellow amateur Nayanika Sanga (69-72) while Khushi Khanijau (70-72) was tenth.

Pranavi Urs hurt her wrist and withdrew while Neha Tripathi, who was unwell on the first day also pulled out, reducing the field to 35.

Ridhima (72-72) was T12 and Diksha Dagar (77-72) 19^th.

Amateur and national champion Sneha Singh improved on her first round with a 1-under 69 on day two at the BPGC.

Solid golf

Seher, related to Indian golf legend Arjun Atwal and who spent four years playing collegiate golf at Rollins in the US, continued to play solid play on Thursday.

She split two birdies against a bogey on the front nine, getting to 2-under with on the 10^th, but was derailed with a double bogey on the par-4 12^th.

A birdie on 16 though, helped Seher stay under par for the day and on course for a maiden pro win.

Avani, seeking to join the list of amateurs to have won on the pro circuit, birdied the first and 18^th and dropped two shots in between for a level par 70.

Amandeep, 3-under through the first five holes, dropped three shots and a double on Par-4 12^th but closed with a birdie for her 71.

Rhea had the day’s best score with five birdies against one dropped shot in her 66.

The final round will see Seher and Avani battle it out for their first title on the Hero WPGT.

For her part, Amandeep will be looking to extend her lead in the Hero Order of Merit for the combined 2020-21 season.

Scores and final round tee times

8 am; Astha Madan 167; Ishvari Prasanna 164

8:10 am: Geetika Ahuja 163; Saaniya Sharma 160

8:20 am: Rhea Jha 160; Khushi Hooda (A) 159; Mehar Atwal 159

8:30 am: Jyotsana Singh 157; Ayesha Kapur 156; Oviya Reddi 155

8:45 am: Lakhmehar Pardesi 154; Disha Kavery 154; Shriya Vivek 153

8:55 am: Trimann Saluja 153; Durga Nittur 150; Diksha Dagar 149

9:05 am: Shweta Mansingh 148; Vidhatri Urs (A) 148; Shagun Narain 147

9:15 am: Ananya Datar 144; Ridhima Dilawari 144; Gauri Karhade 144

9:30 am: Sneha Singh (A) 144; Asmitha Sathish 143; Khushi Khanijau 142

9:40 am: Nayanika Sanga (A); 141 Nishna Patel (A) 141; Jahanvi Bakshi 140

9:50 am: Vani Kapoor 140; Rhea Purvi S. 140; Hitaashee Bakshi 139

10 am: Amandeep Drall 137; Avani Prashanth (A) 137; Seher Atwal 134

Also read: Hitaashee Bakshi wins on second Hero WPGT start as a pro