Neha in driver's seat on Day 1

Neha Tripathi carded one under 71 to grab the lead in the opening round of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens here today.

Trailing her in tied second position with identical scores of three over 75 are Gursimar Badwal and Smriti Mehra in the INR 6,00,000 event, which will culminate on January 20.

Kolkata's Neha had a shaky start, carding a bogey on the very first hole and another one on the 4th. But she had birdies on the 5th and 7th in her front nine.

She played a more controlled back nine, carding birdies on the 12th and 16th holes while dropping a shot on the 17th to finish with a score of one under 71.
 

Kapurthala's Gursimar carded a birdie less front nine, with bogeys on the 1st and 8th holes and a double on the 5th. She regained her composure and carded a bogey free back nine, finishing with a birdie on the 18th hole.

Kolkata's Smriti would have hoped for a better start, carding a double on the very first hole. She went on to card a birdie less front nine, dropping shots on the 4th,6th and 8th holes. She turned things around in the back nine, carding birdies on the 11th, 14th and 18th holes, while dropping a shot on the 13th to finish with a score of three over 75.

Amandeep Drall's round was a mixed bag. She carded birdies on the 2nd, 5th and 9th holes, while dropping shots on the 1st, 4th and 7th. She also carded a double bogey on the 3rd hole. She started her back nine impressively, firing an eagle on the 12th hole.

The advantage was, however, short lived as she carded a double on the 13th followed by bogeys on the 15th and 17th. She finished her round with a score of four over 76 to take the fourth spot.

Gurgaon's Gaurika Bishnoi started with aplomb, carding an eagle on the very first hole. Thereafter, she struggled to stitch together a series of consistent shots, carding bogeys on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th and 18th holes, with a double on the 13th. Her lone birdie of the day came on the 12th hole and she finished with a score of six over 78, in 5th position.

Kolkata's Siddhi Kapoor carded seven over 79 to take the sixth position, followed by Chandigarh's Saaniya Sharma in seventh with a score of 10 over 82.