By Rahul Banerji
Vidhatri Urs is a round away from joining the list of amateurs to have won on the Hero WPGT, having opened up a massive lead at Prestige Golfshire near Bangalore on Thursday.
The Mysore amateur, whose best on the Hero WPG Tour is a third-place finish, holds a massive nine-shot lead with one round to go.
Following her first round 7 under 65, Vidhatri added a 5 under 67 to get to 12-under 132 on Thursday.
In second place was rookie pro Kriti Chowhan whose level par 72 and a first round 69 totalled 141.
Lying third was amateur Saanvi Somu, (69-73) alongside Sachika Singh (70-72) and Seher Atwal (69-73).
Jasmine Shekar (69), Sneha Singh (72) and Jyotsana Singh (72) were sixth, seventh and eighth, while Hitaashee Bakshi (70), Ananya Datar (71) and Shweta Mansingh (73) were tied ninth on 146.
Fast start
On Thursday, Vidhatri was once again fast off the blocks with three early birdies before adding a fourth to make the turn in 4-under.
Two birdies against one dropped shot marked her back nine to make for a 67 card. Vidhatri has dropped just two shots over 36 holes while picking up 14 birdies.
Kriti had four birdies against two birdies and a double.
Promising amateur Saanvi had four birdies on the front nine and two more on the back stretch but she dropped three shots on the way for a 69.
Sachika had three birdies on the front nine but three bogeys on the back nine negated that in her 72. In comparison, Seher had two birdies and three bogeys in the first eight holes and thereafter she had a string of 10 pars.
Jasmine Shekar in sixth is the only other player under par with 74-69 and Sneha Singh, twice a winner in 2023, is level par 144 with 72-72.
Tvesa Malik had five bogeys and a double in the first six holes and another double later against two birdies in her 79 for tied 18th.
The cut fell at 11-over 155 and 25 players made the grade.
Scores and round three tee times
8 am: Suchitra Ramesh 155, Geetika Ahuja 155
8:10 am: Rhea Jha 154, Agrima Manral 154
8:20 am: Yaalisai Verma 152, Riya Yadav 152, Tvesa Malik 151
8:30 am: Rhea Purvi Saravanan 151, Rishika Muralidhar 150, Mannat Brar (A) 149
8:40 am: Keerthana Rajeev (A) 149, Durga Nittur 148, Neha Tripathi 147
8:55 am: Khushi Khanijau 147, Shweta Mansingh 146, Ananya Datar 146
9:05 am: Hitaashee Bakshi 146, Jyotsana Singh 145, Sneha Singh 144
9:15 am: Jasmine Shekar 143, Seher Atwal 142, Sachika Singh 142
9:25 am: Saanvi Somu (A) 142, Kriti Chowhan 141, Vidhatri Urs (A) 132
Also read: Amateur Vidhatri Urs leads field by four at Prestige Golfshire
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