Golfer Amandeep fires 4 under to grab lead

Gurgaon, March 16: Amandeep Drall played a blemish free round of 4 under 68 to grab the lead in the first round of the seventh leg of the Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour at the Classic Golf and Country Club here on Wednesday.

Defending champion Kiran Matharu is second after with a score of 2 under 70, followed by Smriti Mehra at even par 72 in third at the Rs.7 lakh event which features 22 golfers.

Panchkula's Amandeep started confidently and played a bogey free front nine with a birdie on the seventh hole. She got better as the day progressed and three late birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th helped her to secure a two shot advantage over Kiran Matharu, with a score of 4 under 68.

English golfer Kiran had a shaky start and carded three bogeys on the first, second and seventh with a lone birdie on the sixth. However, she made a strong comeback in the latter half and carded four birdies on the 10th, 14th, 17th and 18th to finish with a score of 2 under 70.

Kolkata's Smriti played an eventful front nine, carding three birdies on the fourth, fifth and ninth while dropping shots on the second, third, seventh and eighth. She also carded a double bogey on the first which was negated by an eagle on the sixth. She played with much more control on her return journey, recording a flawless back nine with a birdie on the final hole.

Sharmila Nicollet is fourth with 1 over 73. Her round included a birdie on the sixth along with two bogeys on the 10th and 16th. Delhi's Vani Kapoor, Kolkata's Neha Tripathi, Kapurthala's Gursimar Badwal and Bengaluru's Nikki Ponappa are all tied at fifth with 2 over 74.

Order of Merit leader Neha carded three bogeys on the fourth, sixth and 16th along with a lone birdie on the 18th. Vani's campaign included four bogeys on the fourth, sixth, seventh and 11th along with birdies on the 10th and 14th.

Nikki played a similar round with bogeys on the first, fourth, sixth and eighth holes along with two birdies on the second and ninth. Gursimar carded three birdies on the fifth, ninth and 17th which were cancelled out by bogeys on the seventh, eighth and 10th. A double on the 12th meant that she had to settle for 2 over 74.

Delhi's Mehar Atwal is ninth with 3 over 75. She is followed by Saaniya Sharma, Shweta Galande, Afshan Fatima, Trisha Sunil and Mehak Sharma — all on tied 10th with an identical scores of 4 over 76.