Amandeep Drall grabs one-shot lead in 3rd leg of Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour

Khel Today Bureau 

Kolkata: Amandeep Drall got off to a flying start as she opened her campaign in the third leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour with a 2-under 70 that put her one shot ahead of Shweta Mansingh at the historic Royal Calcutta Golf Club.

Amandeep, who was runner-up at the 2022 Hero Women’s Indian Open, and has been sharpening her game and giving herself tournament practice at every available opportunity, found three birdies in the last six holes during her solid round.

Jasmine Shekar, the 18-year-old rookie from Bengaluru, gave a good account of herself with a steady even par 72 and was sole third behind Amandeep and Shweta.

Amandeep opened with a birdie on fourth, which was negated by a bogey on the seventh. She stayed even till the end of the 12^th hole. Birdies on 13^th and 14^th and yet another one on 17^th gave her the lead despite a bogey on 15^th.

Shweta had a roller coaster of a round. A double bogey on the second and a bogey on fifth meant she was 3-over after five. Yet she fought well with birdies on seventh and eighth. A bogey on ninth saw her turn in 2-over 38. On the back nine she had back-to-birdies on 10^th and 11^th and again on 15^th and 16^th and that helped her stage a fine recovery. She did drop a shot on 12^th but finished under par at 71. Only Amandeep and Shweta had under par rounds.

Jasmine had three birdies and three bogeys, while Seher Atwal, who has one win this season, was even par after 13 holes, but dropped three shots on 14^th, 15^th and 17^th and slipped down to tied fifth.

Amateur Saanvi Somu (73) was fourth, while another rookie pro, Kriti Chowhan shot 75 as did Seher Atwal and Khushi Khanijau in tied fifth place.

Amateur Janneya Dasanniee (76) was eight, while three players, Agrima Manral, Sneha Singh and Jyotsana Singh were tied ninth with rounds of 77 each.

Tee times for the second round of the third leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club:

1. 9:00 am: Suchitra Ramesh 89; Sachika Singh 84;
2. 9:10 am: Sinjini Mukherjee (A) 84; Geetika Ahuja 84; Mehar Atwal 83;
3. 9:20 am: Neha Tripathi 82; Yaalisai Verma (A) 82; Nayanika Sanga 81;
4. 9:30 am: Riya Yadav 81; Ananya Datar 81; Ishvari Prasanna 81;
5. 9:45 am: Trimann Saluja 80; Rishika Muralidhar (A) 80; Siddhi Kapoor 80;
6. 9:55 am: Lakhmehar Pardesi 79; Saaniya Sharma 78; Astha Madan 78;
7. 10:05 am: Smriti Bhargav (A) 78; Shagun Narain 78; Anisha Agarwalla 78;
8. 10:15 am: Rhea Jha 78; Sneha Singh 77; Jyotsana Singh 77;
9. 10:30 am: Agrima Manral 77; Janneya Dasanniee (A) 76; Seher Atwal 75;
10. 10:40 am: Khushi Khanijau 75; Kriti Chowhan 75; Saanvi Somu (A) 73;
11. 10:50 am: Jasmine Shekar 72; Shweta Mansingh 71; Amandeep Drall 70.