Gaurika in lead in women's golf meet

Golfer Gaurika Bishnoi carded one over 73 to grab the lead in the first round of the third leg of the Hero Womens Professional Golf Tour at The Royal Calcutta Golf Club here on Wednesday.

Gurgaon's Gaurika had an indifferent start, carding a double bogey on the very first hole. She went on to drop shots on the sixth, seventh and ninth holes, while carding birdies on the second and fourth in her front nine.

Still looking for her first win on the Tour, she improved her game as the day progressed and carded birdies on the 11th, 12th and 14th holes, while dropping just one shot on the 15th in her back nine.

Smriti Mehra and Neha Tripathi were tied second with identical scores of two over 74. Smriti would have hoped for a better start, as she carded a bogey on the first hole.

She was erratic in her front nine, with birdies on the fourth and sixth neutralised by bogeys on the fifth, seventh and ninth holes.

She came up with an even par back nine, with a bogey and a birdie apiece on the 14th and 15th holes respectively.

Neha Tripathi had a good start, carding a birdie on the first hole. However, she could not sustain the momentum, carding bogeys on the 2nd, 6th and 9th, with a birdie on the 3rd in her front nine.

On the return, bogeys on the 13th and 16th holes with a lone birdie on the 15th meant that she had to be content with a score of two over 74.

Gursimar Badwal, Trisha Sunil and Saaniya Sharma were all tied fourth with identical scores of four over 76.

Kapurthala's Gursimar had a poor start, dropping shots on the first three holes. She dropped another on the 8th, with birdies on the 4th and 9th bringing some respite in her front nine.

She struggled with her form in the back nine and carded a birdie less round with bogeys on the 13th and 16th holes.

Bengaluru's Trisha's round was a mixed bag. She started with a double on the first, followed by bogeys on the second, third, eighth and ninth holes.

Her lone birdie on the way out came on the fourth hole. She put up a better display in the latter half, carding birdies on the 10th, 15th and 17th holes, while dropping shots on the 14th and 16th.

Chandigarh's Saaniya carded her lone birdie of the day on the 4th hole. She had a string of errors, carding bogeys on the 2nd, 5th, 6h, 7th and 10th holes.

--IANS

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