Vani opens five-stroke lead at Poona Club Hero WPGT leg

Day two leader Vani Kapoor of Gurgaon in action at the Poon Club Golf Course on Thursday. Image courtesy WGAI.

By Rahul Banerji 

Vani Kapoor turned back the clock with a vintage 5 under par 66 to take a five-stroke lead into the final day of the Hero WPGT event at Poona Club Golf Course on Thursday.

With three birdies on the front nine and two more on the back stretch, Vani added a 66 to her opening 70 to total 6 under 136, the WGAI said.

Vani, who owns the most titles among all the active players on the Tour, was five ahead of second leg winner Sneha Singh, who opened bogey-bogey but ended level par 71 and a 1 under total of 141.

Amandeep Drall (70) and Hitaashee Bakshi (71), playing her first Tour event of 2025, were tied for third at level par 142.

DLF Academy’s Vani birdied the second, sixth and ninth holes to turn in 3 under and added gains on holes 10 and 14 for her 5 under 66.

Vani’s last win came at the 12th Leg at her home course, the DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon in September last year.

Balancing out

Sneha opened bogey-bogey but picked up shots on holes 9 and 14 while Amandeep had an action-packed day with five birdies against four bogeys.

Hitaashee had birdies on the second and the fifth holes but and dropped shots on six and 16 for an even par 71.

Kriti Chowhan was 1-over 72 for the second day running and is sole fifth, while Vidhatri Urs (73), Neha Tripathi (74) and first-round leader Shweta Mansingh (76) shared sixth place.

Lavanya Jadon (71), opening leg winner Rhea Purvi Sarvanan (73) and Seher Atwal (74) are tied for 10^th.

The top amateur was Mannat Brar (76-74) at T14, while Saanvi Somu (73-78) was 16^th.

The cut came at 13-over 155 with 24 players making the final round.

Scores and round 2 tee times

8 am: Yashita Raghav 155, Anaggha Venkatesh 155, Keerthana Rajeev (A) 154

8:10 am: Karishma Govind 154, Chitrangada Singh 154, Jasmine Shekar 153

8:20 am: Gauri Karhade 153, Khushi Khanijau 153, Saanvi Somu (A) 151

8:30 am: Mannat Brar (A) 150, Durga Nittur 150, Agrima Manral 149

8:45 am: Shagun Narain 148, Seher Atwal 147, Rhea Purvi S. 147

8:55 am: Lavanya Jadon 147, Shweta Mansingh 145, Neha Tripathi 145

9:05 am: Vidhatri Urs 145, Kriti Chowhan 144, Hitaashee Bakshi 142

9:15 am: Amandeep Drall 142, Sneha Singh 141, Vani Kapoor 136

Also read: Shweta holds one-shot lead at Poona Club Hero WPGT event