Fancied Vani Kapoor had a highly eventful back nine on the opening day of the inaugural leg of the Hero Womens Pro Golf Tour at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens here on Tuesday.
Vani, 24, shot two-over 74 to take a two-shot lead over Gursimar Badwal and Smriti Mehra, while Saaniya Sharma and Suchitra Ramesh carded 77 each.
Vani, who opened the season with a bogey on first had her first birdie on par-4 fourth, which was quickly followed by a bogey on par-5 fifth. At the she was one-over 37.
On the back nine Vani went two over with a bogey on 11th, but between 13th and 16th she found three birdies in four holes to get into red numbers.
She had a disappointing finish, dropping three shots in two holes with a bogey on 17th and a double bogey on the closing par-4 18th.
Gursimar, who had two titles in 2017 while finishing fourth on the Hero Order of Merit, had two birdies, both on back nine, four bogeys and a double bogey in her 76.
Smriti opened bogey-bogey and stumbled with another double on par-3 seventh, making her four-over at the turn. On the back nine, she bogeyed 10th and 18th, but birdied 12th and 14th.
The 17th proved to be a big challenge for the players as 10 of the 13 players in the fray bogeyed or scored worse on the hole.
Tvesa Malik (78) and Neha Tripathi (79) were sixth and seventh, while Amandeep Drall (80), the No. 2 on the Hero Order of Merit in 2017, and Millie Saroha (80) shared the eighth place.
Mehar Atwal shot 81, while Afshan Fatima (82) had a very disappointing finish with two trebles on 15th and 17th and one double on 14th. She also birdied the 16th and 18th.
In the second round, Vani Kapoor will go out in the final group alongside Gursimar Badwal and Smriti Mehra, while Saaniya Sharma, Suchtira Ramesh and Tvesa Malik will go out in the second to last group.
Millie Saroha, Amandeep Drall and Neha Tripathi are in the third group, while the opening pair will see Tavleen Batra and Ayesha Kapur followed by Afshan Fatima and Mehar Atwal in the second two ball.
--IANS
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