Gurgaon:
Kiran Matharu shot a bogey-free round of 5 under 67, the lowest of the season, to grab the early lead in the eighth leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour, here today.
Smriti Mehra was behind her by two strokes in the INR 7,00,000 event, being played at the Classic Golf & Country Club.
Kiran played a cautious even-par front nine. However, she turned up the heat in the latter half, firing five birdies on the 10th, 11th, 13th, 15th and 18th holes.
In the process, the Indian origin English golfer, who has played in the Ladies European Tour, also recorded the lowest round of the season.
Veteran Smriti started impressively, carding three consecutive birdies on the 3rd, 4th and 5th holes. However, her back nine was a mixed bag. She carded three more birdies on the 12th, 14th and 18th holes with an equal number of bogies on the 11th, 16th and 17th holes. She finished with a score of 3 under 69 after 18 holes.
Pune’s Shweta Galande and Noida’s Vaishavi Sinha are tied for the third spot with identical scores of 2 under 70 after the first round. Shweta carded three birdies on the 5th, 10th and 14th holes while dropping just one shot on the 17th hole.
Vaishavi had a shaky start, carding a bogey on the 1st hole. However, she made a strong comeback, carding two birdies on the 2nd and 8th holes in her front nine. She carded two more birdies in her back nine on the 13th and 16th holes while dropping a shot on the 10th hole.
Neha Tripathi played a round of 1 under 71 with birdies on the 3rd, 5th and 9th holes. She also carded bogies on the 2nd and 16th holes to be placed fifth after the first round.
She is followed by Hero Order of Merit leader Vani Kapoor who carded a par 72 on the day. Vani played a cautious round, carding birdies on the 9th and 18thholes. Her lone blemish on the day was a double bogey on the 8th hole. She is followed by Priya Puri and Delhi’s Mehar Atwal, who are placed seventh and eighth respectively after the first round.
