Amandeep Drall got off to a flying start as she opened her campaign in the third leg of the Women's Pro Golf Tour with a 2-under 70 that put her one shot ahead of Shweta Mansingh at the historic Royal Calcutta Golf Club.
Amandeep, who was runner-up at the 2022 Women's Indian Open, and has been sharpening her game and giving herself tournament practice at every available opportunity, found three birdies in the last six holes during her solid round.
Jasmine Shekar, the 18-year-old rookie from Bengaluru, gave a good account of herself with a steady even par 72 and was sole third behind Amandeep and Shweta.
Amandeep opened with a birdie on the fourth, which was negated by a bogey on the seventh. She stayed even till the end of the 12th hole. Birdies on the 13th and 14th and yet another one on the 17th gave her the lead despite a bogey on the 15th.
Shweta had a roller coaster of a round. A double bogey on the second and a bogey on the fifth meant she was 3-over after five. Yet she fought well with birdies on seventh and eighth. A bogey on the ninth saw her turn in 2-over 38. On the back nine she had back-to-birdies on the 10th and 11th and again on the 15th and 16th, which helped her stage a fine recovery. She did drop a shot on the 12th but finished under par at 71. Only Amandeep and Shweta had under-par rounds.
Jasmine had three birdies and three bogeys, while Seher Atwal, who has one win this season, was even par after 13 holes, but dropped three shots on the 14th, 15th and 17th and slipped down to tied fifth.
Amateur Saanvi Somu (73) was fourth, while another rookie pro, Kriti Chowhan shot 75 as did Seher Atwal and Khushi Khanijau in tied fifth place.
Amateur Janneya Dasanniee (76) was eight, while three players, Agrima Manral, Sneha Singh and Jyotsana Singh were tied ninth with rounds of 77 each.
( With inputs from ANI )
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