Mannat shares lead with two

Chandigarh, July 12

Chandigarh’s 16-year-old golfer Mannat Brar shared the lead with Sehar Atwal and Sneha Singh, after the opening round of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, at the Bangalore Golf Club on Wednesday.

Seher produced two late birdies to card 2-over 69 and got into a share of the first-round lead with Sneha and Mannat. Amateurs like Mannat have been faring well in recent weeks on the tour. She began a bogey-birdie-bogey and added a bogey on the seventh to turn in 2-over. A bogey on the 11th and a birdie on 18th lead her shot 69 at the Par-67 course. Meanwhile, flying in straight from Singapore, where Seher played in the Singapore Ladies Masters, she struggled with a string of six pars and a double bogey on the Par-4 seventh. She then dropped shots on the 10th and 11th and was 4-over through 11 holes. She had a tough start with bogeys on the second and third. She had two more bogeys, but also birdied sixth and ninth at the Par-67 Bangalore Golf Club. Tvesa Malik dropped three birdies in a row in the middle of the round between the 10th and 12th, but managed to hang in with 3-over 70 and a share of the fourth place alongside Durga Nittur and Ananya Datar. While Gaurika Bishnoi, making a return after missing the last two legs, had just one birdie in her round of 4-over 71 to remain tied-7th with Gauri Karhade. Oviya Reddi, Jasmine Shekar, Hitaashee Bakshi, Saaniya Sharma, Shweta Mansingh and amateur Prakruthi Sastry shot 5-over 72 and were tied-9th. The last week’s winner, Neha Tripathi, had a rough start with 6-over 73.