Gurbani retains lead Hero women's golf

Amateur Gurbani Singh carded 2 over 74 in extremely difficult conditions to retain her lead in the second round of the ninth leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour here on Thursday.

Kapurthala's Gursimar Badwal carded 3 under 69 to jump to second position, one shot clear of Delhi youngster Vani Kapoor in third place. The second round of the Rs.7 lakh event at the Royal Springs Golf Course was postponed due to heavy rainfall on Wednesday.

Gurbani played a cautious round in tough conditions, carding a birdie on the 11th hole along with three bogies on the sixth, 10th and 14th holes to take her total score to 142 after 36 holes. Her effort of 4 under 68 in the first round ensured her a two shot lead going into the final round.

Gursimar played sensationally and carded 3 under 69, the lowest score of Round 2. Her blemish free round included three birdies on the second, 11th and 15th, helping her finish with a score 144.

Order of Merit leader Vani too made a strong comeback to take third with a score 145. She played a bogey free front nine, carding two birdies on the third and seventh. She added another on the 10th in her back nine but a bogey on the 18th meant she had to settle for a score of 2 under 70.

Panchkula's Amandeep Drall and Delhi's Gauri Monga could not sustain their first round momentum and are placed fourth and fifth respectively.

Amandeep carded six bogies on the first, second, fourth, 10th, 11th and 15th with a lone birdie on the 12th to finish the round with 5 over 77. Gauri's round of 4 over 76 included three birdies on the 11th, 15th and 16th. She also carded four bogies on the third, fifth, eighth and 17th along with a triple bogey on the 10th to finish with 147.

Kolkata's Neha Tripathi is placed sixth with 149.

Mercifully, the weather was reasonably good on Thursday with only light rain towards the end. Players arrived at the course very early for a 7:30 a.m. tee off. However, they did not get much rest after the round. After a short break they headed back to the course in an effort to complete the final round.

The tour comprises 19 legs.