By Rahul Banerji
Vidhatri Urs dropped two shots over the final stretch but still held on to the lead on the second day of the i10th Hero WPGT leg on Thursday.
On another day that saw amateurs do battle on level terms with the professionals at Prestige Golfshire near Bangalore, Vidhatri led Neha Tripathi by a shot with fellow amateur Prakruthi Satsry third.
While Vidhatri was level par 144 (71-73) and Prakruthi 2-over 146 (73-73), the experienced Neha was 1-under 145 (73-72) and in position to push for a first win since early 2019.
Overnight joint leader Khushi Khanijau (71-75) had a troubled front nine but recovered somewhat thereafter including an eagle on the par 4 12th to take a share of third place.
Amateur Saanvi Somu, runner-up in the ninth leg, was fifth with 147 (73-74) in a second round that had two birdies and four bogeys.
Ananya Datar and Kriti Chowhan shared sixth place with amateurs Mannat Brar and Keerthana Rajeev Nair, who was second in the eighth leg. There were five amateurs in the top nine.
Mixed bag
Vidhatri, who won by 13 shots in the ninth leg last month, had three birdies against two dropped shots.
She was 2-under for the week after 16 holes and seemed set for a good lead but the bogey-bogey finish saw Neha Tripathi make up ground at the very end.
Neha had one bogey and one birdie and parred the back nine for a 72 that will have come as a boost for the experienced golfer who has not won in four years.
Prakruthi had four birdies and five bogeys, three of which came in a row.
Khushi doubled bogeyed hole four and tripled six but a birdie on eight and eagle on 12 kept her afloat despite another bogey on 14.
Asmitha Sathish, Hitaashee Bakshi and Sneha Singh were tied tenth on 5-over 149.
The cut fell at 15-over with 26 going through to the final round.
Scores and round 3 tee times
11:15 am: Ravjot K Dosanjh 159, Durga Nittur 159
11:25 am: Saaniya Sharma 158, Rhea Jha 157, Jasmine Shekar 156
11:35 am: Snigdha Goswami 156. Gauri Karhade 155, Rishika Muralidhar 155
11:45 am: Shweta Mansingh 155, Riya Yadav 155, Sachika Singh 155
11:55 am: Agrima Manral 153, Tvesa Malik 151, Karishma Govind 151
12:10 pm: Sneha Singh 149, Hitaashee Bakshi 149, Asmitha Sathish 149
12:20 pm: Keerthana Rajeev (A) 148, Mannat Brar (A) 148, Kriti Chowhan 148
12:30 pm: Ananya Datar 148, Saanvi Somu (A) 147, Khushi Khanijau 146
12:40 pm: Prakruthi Sastry (A), 146 Neha Tripathi 145, Vidhatri Urs (A) 144
Also read: Amateurs call the shots on day 1 of WPGT event at Golfshire
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