Vani shares Swiss Ladies Open lead with fiery opening round

File photo of Vani Kapoor who turned in a vintage display on the opening day of the Ladies Swiss Open to share the lead. Image courtesy WGAI.

By Rahul Banerji

Vani Kapoor fired an opening 5 under par 66 to share the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open with three others at Rotkreuz, Switzerland, on Friday.

Vani was tied with Kirsten Rudgeley, Caroline Hedwall and Anne-Charlotte Mora, while Tvesa Malik Sandhu, was tied ninth at the Golfpark Holzhäusern.

Of the other Indians in the field, Ridhima Dilawari and Amandeep Drall were tied 57^th with 1-over 72 and Seher Atwal (77) was T108, the WGAI said.

Aussie Rudgeley, chasing her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) win, got the ball rolling in the morning wave as she posted a bogey-free 66 (-5) at.

A little later, Solheim Cup star Hedwall followed suit carding six birdies against one bogey to match the score.

In the afternoon wave, Vani, starting on the 10th hole, went on a birdie spree on the back nine firing five birdies after going out in level par. 

Relieved feeling

“It’s a big relief,” the DLF-based Vani said. “My game has been feeling good for quite some time, but I feel like everything wasn’t coming around. So it’s good to see some positives.

“I’m just trying to believe in myself a bit more. I think that’s helped. I was playing in Italy a couple of weeks ago and I had someone on my bag, he was a professional, and he said, ‘you have it in you.’

“He said to believe and that’s what I did today.”

Mora continued her excellent record at Golfpark Holzhäusern – the Frenchwoman finished T10 in 2021 and T3 in 2023 – recovering well after an opening double-bogey to post seven birdies. 

Four players were on the heels of the leaders a tie for fifth on 4 under. The quartet included Spain’s Maria Hernandez, Morocco’s Maha Haddioui, Sweden’s Sofie Bringner and Poland’s Dorota Zalewska.

Twelve players shared ninth place on 3 under including home favourite Kim Metraux, last week’s runner-up Rosie Davies, and the in-form Emma Spitz from Austria.

Another home star, Joburg Ladies Open winner Chiara Tamburlini, was a shot further back from them on 2 under 69.

Also read: Tvesa Malik leads group of five Indians at Swiss Ladies Open