Neha Fires 66, Takes Six-shot Lead Going into Final

Pune, Jan 17 (PTI) Neha Tripathi Thursday produced a fluent five-under 66 in the second round to secure a massive six-shot lead in the opening leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour.

Neha had six birdies with just one blemish on the penultimate hole, as she overtook Diksha Dagar (70-76) after 36 holes.

Neha, who shot 74 in the first round after dropping three shots in the last three holes and four in the last five, is now two-under 140 for two rounds.

Diksha is second at four-over 146, amateur Pranavi Urs (73-74) is now third and Amandeep Drall (77-72) rose to fourth.

Millie Saroha, who was second after the first round, had a forgettable day with nine bogeys, a double and no birdies in a card of 82 that saw her slip to Tied-eighth.

Neha, who is often seen as not having done justice to her potential, had shot the Women's Tour's best-ever score of 10-under 62 at the Classic Golf Resort last year.

On Thursday, she was in a similar aggressive mood in the second round. She started with five pars and then birdied sixth, seventh and ninth to turn in three-under.

On the back, she birdied 12th and 14th but dropped a shot on 17th. She quickly made amends with a birdie on 18th to sign off with a 66.

Diksha was off-colour and had just one birdie on the Par-3 fourth hole which came after dropping shots on second and third.

On the back nine, she bogeyed 13th, 15th, 17th and 18th to fade away to 76. At 146, she is lying second but six behind the leader Neha.

Pranavi had a rough start with bogeys on first and third and a double on fifth, but she managed to control the damage as she birdied 8th to get to three-over at the turn.

However, bogeys on 15th and 17th pulled her back again. She was lying sole third, one shot behind Diksha Dagar.

Amandeep Drall had three birdies and four bogeys in her 72 and is Tied-fourth.

Siddhi Kapoor (75-75) is fifth, Khushi Khanijau (75-77) is sixth while Afshan Fatima (78-75) is seventh. Gursimar Badwal (78-76) is Tied-eighth with Millie Saroha (72-82) and Ananya Datar (79-76) is tenth.

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