Women's Golf Association of India

Oviya, Amandeep share lead as Pranavi is back in contention

Chennai, Feb 13:Teenaged Chennai golfer Oviya Reddi, who has never had a Top-5 finish on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, kept a share of the lead after the second round of the third Leg of the Tour at the TNGF Cosmo Golf course on Thursday.

As Oviya went through a roller coaster back nine with two birdies against four bogeys in her 74, Amandeep Drall, searching for her first win this season, shot 73.

Oviya and Amandeep are three-over 147 and two shots ahead of the pair of Pranavi Urs (69) and Afshan Fatima (72), who are tied third at five-over 149.

The star of the day was Pranavi Urs, who after a disappointing eight-over 80 in her first round as a pro, made a dramatic 11-shot improvement within a day.

Pranavi, who has twice won on the Hero WPGT but as an amateur, is looking for her first win as a pro and she may well pull it off on her debut.

After pars on the first five holes, Pranavi birdied three in a row from sixth to eighth before a bogey on ninth saw her turn in two-under. On the back nine she birdied 11th and 16th but had a double bogey on the Par-3 13th. She managed to end the day with a birdie on the tough 18th and was the only player to make gains on it as only three others had pars on the closing hole.

Amandeep Drall, who has had a quiet time on the domestic tour, had three birdies on the front nine against bogeys on second and fifth. On the back nine she dropped shots on 10th and 12th, but parred the last six holes for her 73.

Oviya Reddi, who has been solid on a course she knows well, had bogeys on first and fourth, but back-to-back birdies on fifth and sixth followed by three pars saw her turn in even par 37.

On the back nine she dropped shots on 12th and 13th but picked birdies on 15th and 17th. She also bogeyed 16th and 18th and had pars on only three holes on the back nine.

With the players getting a better idea of the TNGF Cosmo course layout, Neha Tripathi (77-74) and Vani Kapoor (79-73) improved their scores.

Neha was sole fifth at seven-over 151, while Vani was tied-sixth with Ananya Datar, whose three bogeys on her last three holes proved very costly. Ananya added 77 to her first round score of 75 to be eight-over 152 with Vani.

Amateur Sneha Singh (76-77) and Khushi Khanijau (79-74) were tied eighth, while Saaniya Sharma (79-75) and Sonam Chugh (77-77) completed the top ten.

With the course testing the players, the final round could see a thrilling finish with the top five players within four shots of each other.

Tee times for Round 3 at the TNGF Cosmo Golf Course, Chennai for third leg of Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour :

8:00 AM : Geetika Ahuja 173; Anisha Agarwalla 168; Trimann Saluja 167;

8:10 AM : Mehar Atwal 165; Jyotsana Singh 164; Ishvari Prasanna 161;

8:20 AM : Gursimar Badwal 159; Smriti Mehra 159; Gurjot Badwal 156;

8:30 AM : Siddhi Kapoor 155; Sonam Chugh 154; Saaniya Sharma 154;

8:40 AM : Sneha Singh (A) 153; Khushi Khanijau 153; Ananya Datar 152;

8:50 AM : Vani Kapoor 152; Neha Tripathi 151; Afshan Fatima 149;

9:00 AM : Pranavi Urs 149; Oviya Reddi 147; Amandeep Drall 147.