Nayanika excels in Hero WPGT

Hyderabad: Nayanika Sanga, looking for her maiden win on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, carded a solid four-under 68 to take a slender one-shot lead after the opening day in the 15th and final leg of the Tour here on Wednesday.

Nayanika, 20, had seven birdies, including three in a row on the back nine from the 11th to the 13th at the Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club. She had one shot edge over last week’s winner, Hitaashee Bakshi (69) and Jasmine Shekar (69). Four players, Amandeep Drall, Gaurika Bishnoi and Sneha Singh, alongside Sri Lankan amateur Kaya Daluwatte were tied for fourth place with cards of 2-under 70 each. Nayanika, who turned pro in 2022, had an early bogey on the second, but birdies on the fourth and the eighth ensured she turned in one-under.

A bogey on the tenth pulled her back to even par, but a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th to the 13th and two more on the 15th and 18th with a bogey in between on 16th saw her finish at 68. Hitaashee had a bogey early on the second but birdies on the fifth, seventh and the ninth holes saw her turn in a healthy 2-under 34. On the back nine, she birdied the 11th and 15th and dropped a shot on the Par-4 13th. Jasmine Shekar had a super start with four birdies in the first seven holes, but then three bogeys against one birdie between the ninth and the 13th saw her fall back. A closing birdie on the 18th ensured she finished at 69 and was still close to the leader. Khushi Khanijau (71) was sole eighth while four others including Vidhatri Urs, Anvitha Narender, Seher Atwal and amateur Srihita Mandava were tied ninth with scores of one-over 73 each.