Golfer Smriti takes lead in Hero golf

Overnight joint leader Smriti Mehra played a consistent round to lead the field after 36 holes in the sixth leg of the Rs.7 lakh Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour here Thursday.

The veteran carded 1 under 70 to finish at four under 138 after Round 2 at the picturesque Lidder Valley Golf Course.

Order of Merit leader Vani Kapoor of Delhi played a consistent round to improve to second position, trailing Smriti by a single shot. Vani too carded 1 under 70 to finish with a total of 3 under 139.

Smriti, who sank nine birdies in the first round, started off cautiously, carding four birdies on the fifth, ninth, 14th and 16th holes as opposed to three bogeys on the eighth, 10th and 13th.

Vani, who is chasing her fourth victory of the season, began with a birdie and carded three more on the eighth, ninth and 16th. She had three bogeys on the seventh, 11th and 12th.

Kolkata's Neha Tripathi made a strong comeback with a score of 3 under 68 to finish at tied third with overnight joint leader and Chandigarh amateur Tavleen Batra.

Tavleen could not repeat her first day's performance, carding 1 over 72 which included three birdies and four bogeys. Neha and Tavleen both finished with identical scores of two under 140.

Neha made her way back to the top-3 with five birdies on the second, eighth, ninth, 11th and 12 holes. Her only blemishes in an otherwise splendid round were two bogeys on the 14th and 18th holes.

Saaniya Sharma and Gursimar Badwal are tied fifth with identical scores of 142. Preetinder Kaur with her second round score of one over 72 and a total of 144 is seventh. Shweta Galande and amateur Mehar Atwal are joint ninth with scores of 145.

The tour comprises 15 legs spanning across India.