Golf: Hitaashee keeps 10-shot lead after third day at sixth Leg of WPGT

Gurugram: Hitaashee Bakshi managed to hang onto a 10-shot lead despite being unable to produce the kind of birdie fests she had conjured up on the first two days of the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, here on Thursday.

Playing at the Gary Player layout, Hitaashee after 64-66 in the first two rounds had a modest 3-over 75, but at 11-under 205, she was still 10 shots clear of the field in the Rs. 25 lakh event.

Gaurika Bishnoi (70) had the best and the only under-par round of the breezy third day and at 1-under 215 was tied for second alongside former Order of Merit winner, Vani Kapoor (75).

Last week’s winner, Amandeep Drall (76) was fourth, while Queen Sirikit -– bound amateur Vidhatri Urs (73), also the winner of the opening leg this season, was tied fifth with amateur teammate Zara Anand (74). Jasmine Shekar (73), Riya Yadav (79), Khushi Khanijau (78) and amateur Janneya Dasannjee (77) were occupying the seventh to tenth spots.

Hitaashee, who was in unstoppable form the last two days, began with three pars and then a double bogey on Par-5 fourth. She made up one shot on the next hole, the Par-3 fifth, but after two more pars, she dropped back-to-back bogeys on the eighth and ninth.

On the back nine, a bogey on the 13th was compensated by a birdie on the 18th for a round of 75, yet she holds a massive lead going into the final day.

Gaurika Bishnoi had an up-and-down round with five birdies but also gave away three bogeys for a 70, the best card of the day. She shared the second place with Vani, whose 75 did not have any birdies. She double-bogeyed the Par-4 sixth and bogeyed the seventh.

Amandeep Drall had three bogeys on the front nine and her solitary gain of the day came on the Par-4 13th, but she also closed with double bogey on the Par-5 18th for a 76.

Vidhatri Urs and Zara Anand, who will be part of the Indian Golf Union’s team at the Queen Sirikit Cup next week in New Zealand, shot 73 and 74 respectively. Vidhatri had two birdies against three bogeys, while Zara had two birdies and a bogey on the front nine and a birdie on the 10th at which point she was 2-under for the day, she then dropped shots on the next four holes from the 11th to the 14th for a 74.