Neha, Tvesa play catch up
Overnight leader Afshan Fatima dropped to third with a card of two- over 72
Local player Neha Tripathi and amateur Tvesa Malik returned totals of 140 to share the second round lead in the fourth leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Tollygunge Club in Kolkata on Thursday.
Overnight leader Afshan Fatima could not sustain her momentum and dropped to third with a card of two- over 72 on the day.
Neha had a shaky start and played a birdie- less frontnine with a double bogey in the opening hole. However, the professional from Kolkata grew in confidence as the day progressed and fired five quick birdies including three on trot from the 10th, besides a bogey on the 16th to finish the day on two- under 68. Her tally of five birdies was unmatched on the day.
Neha, who claimed her first title of the season last week, will push hard for the victory on Friday.
Tvesa played with control and carded two birdies, against a lone bogey on the eighth hole to finish with a round of one- under 69.
Jaipur’s Afshan had an indifferent start and hit a triple bogey on her very firtst hole. She dropped three more shots, but three consecutive birdies from the the 8th and another on the 13th helped her repair the damage.
She ensured that she remained in the leader group with a total of 142 after 36 holes.
Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra, Pune’s Shweta Galande, overseas player Kiran Matharu and Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal were all tied for fourth on 146 after the second round.
Shweta played a par round of 70 with two birdies and an equal number of bogeys. Kiran’s card of four- over 74 included six bogeys and two birdies on the 9th and 14th.
Local pro Smriti had three bogeys with a lone birdie on the 16th to finish with a twoover 72. Gursimar carded a five- over 75, which had three bogeys along with a triple on the seventh and a lone birdie on the 14th hole.
Delhi’s Mehar Atwal and Bengaluru’s Trisha Sunil were eighth and ninth, respectively.