Amandeep shoots 70 to take the lead

Amandeep Drall made hay while the rest of the field struggled to open a healthy lead after the opening round of the Hero-KGA Women’s Pro Golf Championship here on Wednesday.

The Panchkula pro, alternating between birdies and bogeys, carded two-under 70 to steer five shots clear of second-placed Gursimar Badwal and amateur Millie Saroha. Another amateur Suchitra Ramesh and Shweta Galande were tied for the fourth place at 76.

Neha Tripathi, a favourite following the pull out of Vani Kapoor due to medical reasons, made a disastrous start, carding 79. Sharmila Nicollet’s woes continued, the former Order of Merit winner shooting 78.

Amandeep started impressively, carding a birdie on the very first hole. She added four more birdies on the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth holes while dropping shots on the fifth and seventh in her front nine. She carded one more bogey on the 16th hole in the latter half.

Leading scores (after 18 holes, ‘A’ denotes amateur): 70: Amandeep Drall; 75: Gursimar Badwal, Millie Saroha ‘A’; 76: Suchitra Ramesh ‘A’, Shweta Galande; 77: Ankita Tiwana.