Vani Kapoor back as Hero WPG Tour resumes in Hyderabad

From the WGAI

Vani Kapoor will make her first appearance on the domestic circuit this season in the Rs  9 lakh 11th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour that tees off at the Hyderabad Golf Club on Wednesday.

With pleasant weather setting in, the golfers will have ideal conditions though they may have to contend with the slight breeze that often blows in the city and a forecast of rain. The players got to experience the conditions in the practice round on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Delhi-based Vani, who was dominant on the domestic Tour before she began focusing on the international circuit, had entered the 10th leg of the Tour too, but had to pull out because of muscle spasms and a neck niggle. She is however fit and raring to go.

‘Looking forward’

“I was out due to injury and am playing an event after two months. However, the injury was not serious and I am fine and looking forward to getting back to action,” said Vani.

“The domestic circuit of the Hero WPGT has become very competitive with good scores and close tussle and I am keen to experience that once again.”

Vani will tee off with Gursimar Badwal and Oviya Reddi at 9.10 am.

The 11th leg will feature a reduced field pf 24 players including amateurs Sneha Singh and Shreya Pal.

Ridhima Dilawari, the only three-time winner this season, along with Gaurika Bishnoi is also in the field, though Tvesa Malik is not playing this week.

Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok are playing this week at the ASI Ladies Scottish Open. Astha Madan too is absent from the Hyderabad field this week.

The last event was held four weeks ago in Bangalore with Amandeep Drall winning her first title of the season. Gaurika Bishnoi was second. Both are in the field this week.

Round 1 tee times

8:30 am: Shriya Vivek, Neha Tripathi, Afshan Fatima

8:40 am: Komal Chaudhary, Anousha Tripathi, Ridhima Dilawari

8:50 am: Sonam Chugh, Gurjot Badwal, Sneha Singh (A)

9 am: Gauri Karhade, Shreya Pal (A), Siddhi Kapoor

9:10 am: Gursimar Badwal, Oviya Reddi, Vani Kapoor

9:20 am: Suchitra Ramesh, Anisha Agarwalla, Amandeep Drall

9:30 am: Gaurika Bishnoi, Jyotsana Singh, Ishvari Prasanna

9:40 am: Ananya Datar, Khushi Khanijau, Tavleen Batra

Lahiri, Sharma at Korn Ferry finals

Meanwhile, Anirban Lahiri, who has lost his PGA Tour card with a series of below-par performances through the season, will seek to earn his way back to the top tier through the subsidiary Korn Ferry Tour finals.

He will be joined by Shubhankar Sharma and they will need to finish in the top 25 for their PGA Tour cards.

The three-leg finals series are the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Colombus, Ohio (August 15 to 18), the Boise Open (August 22 to 25) and the @KornFerryTour Championship that runs from August 30 to September 2 in Indiana.

The big guns will be in action earlier at the FedEx Cup playoffs that begin with this week’s Northern Trust event at the Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, the event running from this Thursday through to Sunday.

That will be followed by the BMW Championship at Medinah in Illinois from August 15 to 18 with the top 70 going through from Liberty National and finally the Tour Championship at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta from August 22 to 25.

Tiger Woods returns to the Tour having confirmed entry for the three legs of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Also read: Amandeep breaks 2019 Hero WPGT title drought