HWPGT 2016: Mehar and Kiran retain lead, Vani Kapoor tied 3rd

Mehar Atwal - Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour 2016 – Leg 1Ahmedabad: Overnight leaders Mehar Atwal and Kiran Matharu carded identical scores of 5 over 77 in the second round to retain their lead in the first leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Kensville Golf & Country Club here on Wednesday. Two strokes behind is Delhi’s Vani Kapoor with a total score of 154. The INR 7,00,000 event will culminate on 7th January.

Delhi’s Mehar Atwal struggled with the conditions and carded three consecutive bogies on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd holes. She tried to control the damage with a birdie on the 9th hole, but a birdie-less back nine with three bogies on the 10th, 15th and 17th holes meant that she had to share the lead with Kiran Matharu with a total score of 152 after the second round. Kiran Matharu too struggled to stitch together a series of consistent shots and played a birdie-less round with five bogies on the 1st, 3rd, 7th, 13th and 15th holes.

Delhi’s Vani Kapoor carded 6 over 78 on the second day to maintain her overnight third position. Her error prone round consisted of five bogies on the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th and 8th holes along with double on the 10th. She carded the lone birdie of her round on the 12th hole to finish with a total score of 154 after 36 holes. Chandigarh’s Saaniya Sharma carded 3 over 75, the best round of the day, to jump in fourth position. She carded three birdies on the 5th, 15th and 18th holes while dropping shots on the 8th, 13th, 14th and 16th. She could have finished higher but a double bogey on the 3rd hole meant that she had to be content with the fourth position with a total score of 155.

Panchkula’s Amandeep Drall returned with a card of 4 over 76 in the second round to take the fifth place. She carded two birdies on the 11th and 15th holes while dropping shots on the 1st, 3rd, 14th and 18th holes with a double on the 10th to finish with a total score of 158.

Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal and Delhi’s Ankita Tiwana are tied sixth after the second round with identical totals of 160. Following them are Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra and Pune’s Shweta Galande who are placed eighth and ninth respectively.