Golf: Amandeep fires bogey-free 68 to take two-shot lead in 9th Leg of WPGT

Hosur (TN), July 9 (IANS) Amandeep Drall fired a second straight 4-under 68 and opened a two-shot lead over her best friend, Vani Kapoor, who also shot a 68 in the second round of the ninth leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour (WPGT) at the Clover Greens in Hosur on Thursday.

Amandeep fired a bogey-free round with two birdies on either side of the course.

Even as the first-round leader, amateur Alysha Dutt (67-78) slipped down to T-17 with a score 11 shots higher than her first-round effort. Vani Kapoor, the five-time winner in 2025, shot up to second place with 70-68. Vani, who, like Amandeep, had a bogey-free round, is tied for second with Eti Chaudhary (69-69) at a 6-under total of 138.

Four players were in tied fourth place, and they were led by Nayanika Sanga (73-66), who improved on her first-round card by seven shots and moved alongside Jasmine Shekar (72-67), Anvvi Dahhiya (70-69), and Durga Nittur (69-70) as the leaderboard continued to be crowded.

Jahnavi Prakhya (70-70) was sole eighth at 4-under 140, while experienced Neha Tripathi (71-70) shared the ninth place with youngsters Kashika Misra (72-69) and Lavanya Jadon (71-70) at 3-under 141.

Four more players, Khushi Khanijau, Shweta Mansingh, Jahaanvie Walia, and Ananya Garg wer,e also under par at 2-under 142 as Ridhima Dilawari, three-time winner this season, was even par with cards of 75-69.

Amandeep, a former runner-up at the Hero Women’s Indian Open, birdied the second, fifth, tenth, and 15th and did not drop a single shot in a very steady performance. Vani opened with birdies on the first, second, and third in a row and another one on the ninth as she was 4-under for the first nine, but she parred the entire back nine in a steady showing.

The par-72 Clover Greens course continued to be generous with Nayanika Sanga (66) firing seven birdies against one bogey for the day’s best card of six under that included four gains on the front nine and three more on the back nine. Her sole bogey was on the Par-4 13th.

Apart from Amandeep Drall and Vani Kapoor, there were quite a few others who had a bogey-free day. They included Jasmine Shekar (67), Durga Nittur (70), and Kashika Misra (69). Hitaashee Bakshi (72-73), hoping to rediscover her form on the domestic Tour, was way behind in T-17 alongside amateurs Diya C Patil and Alysha Dutt, the first-round leader.

The cut fell at 7-over 151, and 35 players made it to the third and final round.

–IANS

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