Gaurika retains lead in 8th leg of Hero women's golf

Golfer Gaurika Bishnoi saw her lead being reduced from three shots to one after a second round of even par 72 on the second day of the eighth leg of the Hero womens Pro Tour at the Clover Greens here on Thursday.

The second day belonged to Trisha Sunil, who played a fine back nine en-route to 3-under 69 that saw her leap to second place, one shot behind Gaurika.

Gaurika (69-72) is 3-under 141, while Trisha (73-69) is 2-under 142. Amandeep Drall (72-71) dropped from sole second to third at 1-under 143. Smriti Mehra (74-70) and Suchitra Ramesh (74-70) were tied at fourth place at even Par 144.

Gaurika, who showed great form on the first day, opened well with a birdie on second but then ran into some problems in the middle of the front nine with bogeys on sixth and eighth. Two birdies against one bogey on the back nine meant an even par 72.

Trisha opened and closed the day with a birdie and had three more in between against two bogeys in the round. That helped her improve from sole fourth to sole second. Adding to the drama, will be Amandeep, who shot 1-under 71.

Interestingly, all three players in the final group are under par and showing consistent form, which means there will be a keen tussle for the honours on the final day.

The second day saw some good scoring as no less than four players broke par and Gaurika shot par. The top five players are par or better, indicating some good play and a lot of birdies at the immaculate Clover Greens.

--IANS

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