Gaurika lead by three in 8th leg of Hero WPGT

Gaurika Bishnoi fired a near-perfect round to open up a handy three-shot lead in the eighth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour here today.

Gaurika, who has played only two events so far this year, the second and the sixth legs, shot 3-under 69 with four birdies against one late bogey.

The 19-year-old Gurgaon-based Gaurika had made a stunning impression in her first full year on the Pro Tour in 2017 by topping the Hero Order of Merit. She won once and finished second numerous times.

Gaurika, who was second in the sixth leg of the current season, was three shots clear of Neha Tripathi and Amandeep Drall, who carded even par 72 each.

Gaurika found her first birdie on the Par-5 second hole but parred the rest of the holes right up to the 12th, which she birdied again.

When she parred the 13th and found back-to-back birdies on 14th and 15th, Gaurika was 4-under with three more holes to go. A bogey on Par-13 spoilt the card but she finished with pars on 17th and 18th holes.

Trisha Sunil (73) was fourth, while Suchitra Ramesh and Smriti Mehra carded 74 each to be Tied-5th.

Siddhi Kapoor (76) was seventh, while Ayesha Kapur and Khushi Khanijau were Tied-8th at 77 and Tvesa Malik, the top pro last week, shot a disappointing 78 with two double bogeys and was Tied-10th alongside Afshan Fatima.

Gaurika will play in the final group alongside Neha and Amandeep, while Trisha, Suchitra and Smriti will be in the group ahead of them.

Sonam Chugh, Gursimar Badwal and Anisha Padukone are in the first group for the second round to be followed by Millie Saroha, Afshan Fatima and Tvesa Malik.

The third group of the day will have Khushi Khanijau, Ayesha Kapur and Siddhi Kapoor.