Indian Open: Thidapa in lead, Gauri jumps to 4th

First-day joint leader Thidapa Suwannapura of Thailand shot a modest two-over 74 but still held on to her lead after the second and penultimate round of the Women's Indian Open at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) here Friday.

At four-under 140 aggregate, the Thai girl is one stroke clear of the other overnight joint leader Valentine Derrey of France, who managed a three-over 75, and Ladies European Tour (LET) sensation Charley Hull of England, who rose from fourth to tied second after posting an even-par 72.

The 20-year-old Indian amateur Gauri Monga underlined her class as she carded a two-under 70 to jump from overnight 13th to fourth, three strokes behind the leader in company of Thailand's Saraporn Chamchoi.

A stroke adrift of Gauri are American Hannah Jun (76) and England's Hannah Burke (71), in tied sixth.

Thidapa had an unfortunate start today as she dropped three strokes on the front nine. She gathered momentum on the back nine and two birdies (10th and 18th) and a bogey on 13th helped her stay in lead.

Thidapa, who started her round in the foggy morning, said she found herself struggling in the tricky greens and tough pin positions.

"My putts for birdie were all short on the back nine. The greens were trickier and the pin positions were harder. I think it's harder playing in the morning than in the afternoon," she said.

Meanwhile, other than Gauri's brilliant show, the tournament turned out to be a modest outing for other Indians. The cut was declared at nine-over 155 and 10 out of 19 Indians made the cut.

Among the prominent names who survived the cut were Sharmila Nicollet (75, 78), veteran Smriti Mehra (77, 73), Neha Tripathi (74, 75) and Vani Kapoor (73, 78).

Gauri was elated to be in top-5 at a club where she cut her golfing teeth. "It's good to shoot such a good round at your home course," said Gauri.

Gauri had an eagle chance on the second hole but her shot lipped out and she settled for a birdie. A good start was spoilt by back-to-back birdies on fifth and sixth where she hit the bunker.

However, she made a superb comeback and holed a putt from 10 feet for a birdie on 11th. She shot into contention with another birdie on 13th, where she holed a 12-footer.

"The best part of my game were my approach shots. I really had a good iron play and then sank the putts easily," said Gauri.

The Delhi girl wants to continue her momentum in the final round.

"It will be great to finish on a high. It's such a big platform and a good performance will be noticed everywhere," she said.