Noida: On a day when fog again played spoilsport and golfers struggled with the weather conditions, Vani Kapoor carded three over 75 to maintain her lead in the 17th leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Noida Golf Course here on Thursday. Trailing her by two shots is Smriti Mehra, placed second with a total score of 150. The INR 6,00,000 event will culminate on Friday.
Delhi’s Vani Kapoor negotiated a birdie less front nine, while dropping shots on the 6th,7th and 9th holes. She carded a birdie and a bogey apiece on the 15th and 16th holes to finish with a total sore of 148 after 36 holes. Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra had a good start,carding a birdie on the very first hole. She carded another on the 6th hole, while dropping a shot on the 3rd in her front nine. On the return, she struggled with her consistency as her lone birdie came on the 16th hole. She dropped shots on the 10th, 12th and carded a double on the 11th.
Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal and Panchkula's Amandeep Drall were tied third with identical scores of 151 after the second round. Gursimar played out a birdie less front nine with bogeys on the 2nd and 4th holes. She raised her game in the back nine, carding birdies on the 13th and 14th holes along with a bogey on the 11th. Amandeep carded birdies on the 1st and 5th holes, while dropping shots on the 4th and 6th in her front nine. However, she seemed to lose concentration in the back nine, with bogeys on the 11th,12th and 17th holes and no birdies.
Noida’s Vaishavi Sinha would have hoped for a better start as her lone birdie of the day came on the 14th hole. Her round consisted of a string of errors with seven bogeys, and she finished with a total score of 152 to be placed fifth after 36 holes.
Hero MotoCorp sponsored Sharmila Nicollet and Pune’s Shweta Galande are tied sixth with identical scores of 154 after the second round.