Ridhima Dilawari extends lead to two shots in Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour

Zion Hills, Kolar: Ridhima Dilawari survived a late stumble to strengthen her grip on the tenth leg of the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour, extending her overnight lead to two shots after the second round at Zion Hills Golf County.

The three-time winner this season overcame a double bogey on the par-5 17th with a birdie on the closing hole to card a one-under 71, following her opening-round 68. Her round featured five birdies, two bogeys and the costly double bogey, taking her to five-under 139 for 36 holes.

Ridhima heads into the final round with a two-shot advantage over Amandeep Drall (69-72) and Vidhatri Urs (69-72), who are tied for second at three-under 141.

Last week's winner Vani Kapoor slipped to fourth after a one-over 73. Her round included four bogeys, with back-to-back dropped shots on the eighth and ninth proving particularly damaging.

Young Saanvi Somu, armed with the experience of playing on the Ladies Access Tour in Europe, had a great start with four birdies in the first six holes. However, she lost that momentum as there were no more birdies and instead, she had two double bogeys on the Par-3 seventh and the Par-4 12th. She parred the rest and is even par 144 with cards of 71-73.

Ridhima has been in good form this season, though she was some way off from the wins in the last two starts. The Hero Order of Merit leader had two early birdies on the second and the fourth but gave away a shot on the eighth to turn in 1-under. A bogey on the 12th brought her to even par but back-to-back birdies on the 14th and the 15th restored some order before she ran into a double bogey on the Par-4 17th. A closing birdie on the 18th was a soothing balm.

Young stars Kashika Misra (72-73), Mannat Brar (73-74) and Riya Jadon (73-75) were sixth, seventh and eighth respectively while five players, Ananya Datar (72-77), Jasmine Shekar (74-75), Anvvi Dahiya (76-73), Karishma Govind (76-73) and Anvitha Narender (78-71) were tied ninth at 5-over 149.

Local star Ananti Vivek (74-76), who trains at Zion Hills, was the top amateur alongside Heena Kang (76-74) and Shreshta Shukla (78-72). They were 6-over 150.

The cut fell at 155 with 34 players advancing to the third and final round. Prominent names missing the cut included Seher Atwal, Shweta Mansingh and Durga Nittur.

Tags : Ridhima Dilawari, Amandeep Drall, Vani Kapoor, Saanvi Somu, Golf, Women's Golf