Smriti Mehra grabs early lead

Smriti Mehra fired a sizzling three under par 67 to grab pole position after the first round of the fifth leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club on Tuesday. Three shots adrift, in second position was Gursimar Badwal. The Rs 6 lakh event ends on Thursday.

Smriti had a shaky start with a bogey on the very first hole.

Thereafter, the professional from Kolkata regained her composure with birdies on the 3rd and 8th holes in her front nine.

She added three more birdies on the back nine which were neutralised by a bogey and a double. However, an eagle on the 18th hole helped her secure the lead.

Kapurthala’s Gursimar played a cautious round with two birdies and an equal number of bogeys for an even par score of 70. She was followed by Kolkata’s Neha Tripathi who started impressively, playing a bogey-free front nine with two birdies.

She added a third on the back nine, but two double bogeys marred her scoreline and she had to be content with a score of 1 over 71.

Kiran Matharu, Sharmila Nicollet and Gauri Monga were all tied for fourth place on two over 72s.

Hero Motocorp sponsored Sharmila started her campaign with an eagle on her third hole, followed by two birdies but could not sustain the momentum and dropped four shots before adding a double to her card.

Kiran’s eventful round included an eagle along with three birdies.

She also had five bogeys along with a double. Delhi’s Gauri Monga carded three birdies while dropping five shots.

The Delhi trio of Ankita Tiwana, Mehar Atwal and Mehak Sharma were tied seventh on 73s followed by Pune’s Shweta Galande in 10th with a 74.