Young amateur Sneha leads in Hyderabad Hero WGPT leg

From the WGAI

Talented amateur Sneha Singh used her knowledge of the Hyderabad Golf Club layout at the picturesque Golconda Fort to good effect, carding a 2-over par 73 for the first round lead in the 11^th leg of the Hero women’s pro tour on Wednesday.

Sneha, who turned 15 in June this year, had three birdies, a bogey and two doubles on the challenging Hyderabad Golf Association course.

She was one shot ahead of the experienced Vani Kapoor who, in her first event for two months, had a 3-over 74 despite starting with three bogeys in a row. In all, Vani had two birdies against five dropped shots.

Neha Tripathi and Gurjot Badwal were on 75 each, while Ridhima DIlawari, the only three-time winner this season, shot 76 as did Ananya Datar to be tied fifth.

Gursimar Badwal, elder sister of Gurjot, and Amandeep Drall were tied seventh with 77s while amateur Shreya Pal and Gaurika Bishnoi carded 78s to complete the Top-10.

Rising talent

Sneha, an 11th standard student, has been doing well in age-group competitions and finished in the top three in the Hyderabad leg of the US Kids Golf Championships. Her father Sanjay Kumar, also a golfer, is her coach and she is a regular at the course.

Vani showed some rust as she started slowly but recovered quickly with six pars followed by another bogey.

At that stage she was four-over for the day. But a birdie-bogey-birdie run gave her a 3-over finish for the day.

Neha, the only player go under par on the front nine, gave away five shots on her way back.

Tee times for Round 2

8:30 am: Anousha Tripathi 86, Jyotsana Singh 85, Tavleen Batra 82

8:40 am: Khushi Khanijau 81, Suchitra Ramesh 81, Shriya Vivek 81

8:50 am: Ishvari Prasanna 80, Siddhi Kapoor 80, Gauri Karhade 80

9:00 am: Sonam Chugh 79, Afshan Fatima 79, Gaurika Bishnoi 78

9:10 am: Shreya Pal (A) 78, Amandeep Drall 77, Gursimar Badwal 77

9:20 am: Ananya Datar 76, Ridhima Dilawari 76, Gurjot Badwal 75

9:30 am: Neha Tripathi 75, Vani Kapoor 74, Sneha Singh (A) 73

Eight Asians in FedEx playoffs

Meanwhile, eight of Asia’s most talented golfers, led by rising Korean star Sungjae Im, will turn out for the FedExCup Playoffs, earning a shot at winning a bumper $15 million bonus payday, the PGA Tour has said.

The 21-year-old, who topped the Korn Ferry Tour last season, enters this week’s Northern Trust event at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey as the highest ranked Asian in 23^rd place on the FedExCup points list thanks to a top-10 finish at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday.

Four other Koreans – Sung Kang, Si Woo Kim, Byeong Hun An and K.H. Lee – have also made  their way into the three-leg FedExCup Playoffs by finishing inside the top 125 of the points list.

Missing out

Amongs those who failed the make grade were Anirban Lahiri (178^th) who will play the Korn Ferry Tour finals from next week along with Shubhankar Sharma, and Koreans Whee Kim (190^th) and Sangmoon Bae  (205^th).

Kang, who won the AT&T Byron Nelson in May for his maiden PGA Tour title, is 29^th, followed by Kim in 45^th place.

An, 27, had a third place finish on Sunday where he challenged for his first Tour win. His third top-10 of the season moved him up from 82^nd to 57^th  on the points list while Lee starts the Playoffs in 104^th place.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama will begin the week in 30^th place while Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan, victorious at the RBC Heritage in April, is four rungs below, followed by Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat at 76^th on his first full year on the Tour.

The top 70 from Liberty National qualify for next week’s BMW Championship before the top 30 make it to the Playoffs finale, the Tour Championship, where the winner will earn $15 million, a Tour statement said.

Also read: Smiling Cinderella from Japan sweeps women’s golf to new high