Vani leads strong field in Leg 15
Vani Kapoor leads a strong field for the 15th leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the DLF Golf and Country Club’s Gary Player layout from Wednesday.
Though there are three more events on the WGAI Tour before the end of the season, the 15th leg holds a special significance, as it is the last outing before the Hero Women’s Indian Open, which will be played at the same venue.
Apart from Vani, who was T- 6th at the 2017 Hero Women’s Indian Open and sees this leg of the domestic circuit as crucial preparation, the field also includes Smriti Mehra, who played the first eight legs but has not played on the domestic Tour since.
Vani has played only three times on the domestic Tour this season as she has been travelling for international events. She won the opening leg this year and was runner- up in the eighth leg.
Another player to look out for will be Gaurika Bishnoi, who signaled a return to form with a fine win in the 14th leg late last month.
In seven starts this season Gaurika has won once, finished second three times and been third and fourth once each in what has been a very consistent performance. Last year at the Hero Women’s Indian Open she was T- 10 after the first round and T- 26 after the second before slipping down to T- 44th in the final round.
Neha Tripathi, who has won once this season and finished second twice, has often not been able to convert her leads into wins. She will once again be hoping for a good week.
Ridhima Dilawari, who represented India at the recent Asian Games in Jakarta, has turned professional on the eve of this tournament as she hopes to play at the Indian Open next month.
Ridhima will try and achieve a feat no other player has done on the domestic tour, which is win an event both as an amateur as well as a pro. She has four events left to try and do that. Ridhima won the seventh leg of the current season at Prestige Golfshire as an amateur and now she could do with another title as a professional.
Diksha Dagar, who was also at the Asian Games with Ridhima but is still an amateur, is also in the field. Diksha won an event on the pro tour last season.
The Hero Order of Merit leader, Tvesa Malik has played all 14 events held so far. Afshan Fatima and Millie Saroha are the only other players to have played all events this season.
Amandeep Drall, who has finished second on the Hero Order of Merit in each of the last three seasons, is once again lying second behind Tvesa. However, this time Amandeep still has four more events, including this week, to challenge Tvesa.
Tvesa holds a handy lead of ` 2,44,200 over the second placed Amandeep, who in turn is ` 1,41,200 ahead of Neha Tripathi.
The first round will see Suchitra Ramesh, Astha Madan and Khushi Khanijau go out in the first group, to be followed by Ayesha Kapur, Ridhima and Amandeep. Mehar Atwal, amateur Tanirika Singh and Afshan Fatima will form the third group, while Millie Saroha, Smriti and amateur Diksha are in the fourth group.
The penultimate threesome will comprise Komal Chaudhary, Gaurika and Tvesa, while Vani, Siddhi Kapoor and Neha Tripathi will tee off last.