Gurgaon: Vani Kapoor, Neha Tripathi, Amandeep Drall and Gaurika Bishnoi carded identical scores of 2 over 74 to share the lead on the first day of the 15th Leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the DLF Golf and Country Club here on Wednesday. Trailing them by a single stroke in fifth position is Chandigarh’s Saaniya Sharma at 3 over 75. The INR 6,00,000 event will culminate on 07th October 2016.

Hero Order of Merit leader Vani Kapoor had an indifferent start to her round, carding bogeys on the 1st, 5th and 8th holes, with a lone birdie on the 9th in her front nine. She played with much more control in the latter half, carding two birdies on the 15th and 16th holes, while dropping shots on the 10th and 13th. Kolkata’s Neha Tripathi played an even par front nine with a bogey and a birdie apiece on the 6th and 9th holes respectively. She dropped two more shots in her back nine on the 11th and 17th holes.

Panchkula’s Amandeep Drall started impressively, carding birdies on the 2nd and 5th holes, while dropping the lone shot on the 4th in her front nine. However, on the return journey she failed to stitch together a series of consistent shots, playing a birdie less back nine with a bogey on the 11th hole and a double on the 13th. Local girl Gaurika Bishnoi had a good start to her day, carding a birdie on the 2nd hole. Thereafter, she lost momentum and dropped shots on the 7th, 9th and 15th holes, and also carded a double on the 8th. However, two late birdies on the 16th and 17th holes helped her to repair the damage and finish among the leaders after the first round.

Chandigarh’s Saaniya Sharma played a round of 3 over 75 on the day to take the fifth position. Her round included two birdies on the 8th and 12th holes along with bogeys on the 3rd, 13th, 14th, 17th and 18th holes. Jaipur’s Afshan Fatima is placed 6th with a score of 4 over 76 after the first round. She carded a birdie on the 15th while dropping shots on the 6th, 10th and 12th along with a double on the 9th.

Pune’s Shweta Galande and Delhi’s Ankita Tiwana were tied 7th with identical scores of 5 over 77, followed by Kolkata’s Siddhi Kapoor and the Bengaluru duo of Nikki Ponappa and Trisha Sunil in the 9th position with identical scores of 7 over 79.