Hosur (Tamil Nadu), July 16 (IANS) Amandeep Drall, who is slowly working her way back to the kind of form that gave her a bunch of wins on the domestic Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, opened with a fine 3-under 69 to take a two- shot lead in the first round of the ninth Leg of the Hero WPGT at the Clover Greens.

Amandeep dropped two late bogeys on the 16th and the 17th holes but despite that she had a handy lead over seasoned Neha Tripathi and Seher Atwal, who carded 1-under 71 each.

Five other players Vidhatri Urs, Anaggha Venkatesh; Jasmine Shekar, Sneha Singh and Jahaanvie Walia shot even par 72 each to be Tied-fourth.

Amandeep Drall, who has had one win in eight starts this season, was a modest even par after seven holes with one birdie on the second, which was erased by a bogey on the sixth. She then had a great run from the eighth to the 12th with four birdies, including three in a row from the eighth to the 11th. Towards the end, she added a birdie on the 15th, at which point she was 5-under for the day. The two bogeys saw her slip to 3-under but keep the lead.

Neha had a good run of four birdies in the middle of the round from the ninth to the 12th besides one other birdie and four bogeys.

Seher Atwal had four birdies against three bogeys and three of her bogeys came between the ninth and the 12th holes.

Amateur Saanvi Somu, a four-time runner-up, was the top amateur with a round of 73 that included one of the day’s three eagles on the Par-5 second. She had an eagle, one birdie, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Two other players, Karishma Govind and amateur Ayushi Dutta also recorded eagles on the same hole.

Saanvi was Tied- ninth alongside Kriti Chowhan and Lavanya Jadon, who also shot 73 each. Four players, including the experienced Ridhima Dilawari, Gauri Karhade, Durga Nittur and Anvvi Dahhiya were Tied-12th with a score of 74 each.

The Order of Merit leader and four-time winner this season, Vani Kapoor, struggled to 3-over 75 with three birdies against four bogeys and a double bogey. She was lying T-16 and eight shots behind her friend Amandeep.

–IANS

aaa/