Consistent Shweta grabs lead in Hero golf

Pune's Shweta Galande continued her good run in the 12th leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour at the Prestige Golfshire to open up a one stroke lead over local girl Sharmila Nicollet and overnight leader Neha Tripathi to grab pole position at the end of Round 2 here Thursday.

Shweta, who was trailing Neha and Sharmila after the first round, came back strongly as she carded a one under 71, with four birdies on the first, eighth, ninth and 12th holes as compared to three bogeys on the second, fourth and seventh.

Shweta has had a pretty consistent season so far and is placed fifth in the Order of Merit but a victory has eluded her and this is a perfect platform for her to achieve it.

Sharmila and Neha couldn't manage under par scores but Wednesday's good show ensured a tied second place. Sharmila carded a one over 73 whereas Neha returned with a three over 75. Both have identical totals of 143 at the end of the second round.

Vani Kapoor returned to her old ways as she carded a one over 71 and with a total of 144, is placed fourth. With only three strokes separating her from the leader, she will be hopeful of making a turnaround Friday.

Saaniya Sharma also had a good outing and was only the third player to return with an under par score. With a second round score of one under 71 and a total of 146, she finished at fifth.

Ankita Tiwana returned with figures of one over 73 and with a total of 148 is placed sixth and a position ahead of veteran Smriti Mehra, whose indifferent form continued into Day 2. Smriti carded a two over 74 and has a total of 150 to be placed seventh.

Pallavi Jain and Gursimar Badwal, with identical scores of 153, are eighth.