Saaniya grabs pole position
Saaniya Sharma, winless on the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour since 2015, struck a purple patch as she shot a two-under 69 on the second day of the 11th leg of the Hero WPG Tour in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Saaniya’s round has been the only sub-par round of the week at the challenging Hyderabad Golf Association course.
After a first round 76, she is now one-over 145 and leads by two shots over Amandeep Drall (73).
Smriti Mehra (74) was third, while Gursimar Badwal (79), winner of the last two events, fell as she dropped five shots between ninth and 12th holes.
Gursimar is now fourth at 152 seven shots behind Saaniya.
Chandigarh pro Saaniya skipped the last two events in Bengaluru as she played in the LPGA qualifying round stage I in the US. She last won in Coimbatore in 2015.
She had two early bogeys but then went on a birdie streak from the sixth hole. She had four birdies in a row and turned in two-under 33.
On the back nine, a bogey was neutralised by a birdie and she finished at 69, by far the best score this week.
Amandeep, who had a tough run between fifth and ninth holes, during which she dropped four bogeys and another on 17th, ended at 73.
Smriti, who along with Saaniya and Sharmila Nicollet, missed making the top 90 at the LPGA QSchool Stage I last month, had a round of 74 that included a rough ride between 11th and 13th.
She carded a double bogey and two bogeys during the stretch and was third at 148.
Gursimar was not able to find her rhythm as she had just a birdie against seven bogeys and a double on a rather disappointing day.
For the second day running, Trisha Sunil and Ayesha Kapur carded identical rounds of 79 and were tied 6th at 155, while Afshan Fatima (77) and Siddhi Kapoor (81) were tied 8th at 156.
Neha Tripathi (77) was 10th along with the sole amateur in the field, Rhea P. Saravanan (79), at 157.
On Friday, Saaniya, Amandeep and Smriti will go out in the leader group.
Only Amandeep has tasted victory this season as she won twice in Ahmedabad and Gurgaon legs, while Smriti’s best this year has been second at Ahmedabad and Saaniya’s best has been second at Kolkata.
After a first round 76, Saaniya is one-over 145 and leads by two shots over Amandeep Drall (73). Smriti Mehra (74) is third, while Gursimar Badwal (79) is fourth.