Delhi's Vani Kapoor and defending champion Mehar Atwal scored two-over 74 and 75 respectively to share the lead in the second round of the 10th leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour here on Thursday.
They finished the round with an identical two-day total of two-over 146 to finish ahead of Chandigarh's Saaniya Sharma in third place with a total score of 148 at the Eagleton Golf Resort.
Overnight leader Mehar played an impressive front nine, carding two birdies on the eighth and ninth holes while dropping just one shot on the sixth. However, she could not sustain the momentum and carded four bogeys on the 10th, 11th, 15th and 16th in her back nine to finish with a score of three-over 75.
Order of Merit leader Vani returned with a card of 74, best effort by a professional on the day. She played a cautious front nine, carding just two bogeys on the fifth and seventh.
The youngster played with much more aggression in the latter half carding two birdies on the 11th and 18th along with an equal number of bogeys on the 10th and 16th to share the lead with the defending champion.
Saaniya carded 76 to grab third spot as she carded four birdies on the first, fifth, 13th and 15th, maximum by any golfer on the day. However, four bogeys on the second, fourth, ninth and 18th along with two double bogeys on the third and 16th marred her scoreline and she had to be content with a total of 148 after 36 holes.
Kolkata's Neha Tripathi and Kapurthala's Gursimar Badwal are tied at fourth with identical totals of 149. Neha carded 75, while Gursimar scored 77.
Amateur Diksha Dagar carded 74 to match the best score of the day with Vani. She played a bogey-free front nine with a birdie on the fourth. However, three successive bogeys on the 11th, 12th and 13th undid her good work and she is placed sixth with 150 as total.
Pune's Shweta Galande and Delhi's Ankita Tiwana are tied seventh on 151. They are followed by Panchkula's Amandeep Drall in the ninth spot with a 36-hole total of 152.
