7th Leg of Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour: Day-2

City’s Vidhatri Urs tied in fourth place

Mysuru: It was the turn of another young star to take the stage, as amateur Ananyaa Sood, a 15-year-old who has fine-tuned her golf in Dubai, became a joint leader alongside the New Jersey-born Anvitha Narender and overnight leader Riya Jadon after two rounds in the 7th Leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Club (JWGC), yesterday.

Ananyaa, a US Kids European Championship winner in 2024, picked five birdies against two bogeys and a double bogey in her round of 1-under 69 at the Par-70 course. Anvitha, a former winner on the Tour in 2024, had the day’s best card of 2-under 68 that included a fine front nine of 3-under 31.

Riya Jadon had a rough day with three bogeys and no birdies in her 73 but she managed to keep a share of the lead at even par 140 after 36 holes. Durga Nittur (71), Amandeep Drall (72), Vidhatri Urs (73) and Anvvi Dahhiya (73) were tied for fourth at 2-over 142, while Tvesa Malik, second after the first round, dropped down to Tied-eighth following a card of 5-over 75 that included a quadruple bogey on the Par-4 17th.

Tvesa was tied for eighth with Karishma Govind (73) at 3-over 143. Ananyaa, who is based in Dubai and trains under former Indian pro Sujjan Singh, has been showing good progress. She has played on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in the past, and also posted good results in junior events in Dubai and elsewhere, while training at the Claude Harmon III centre in Dubai.

Anvitha, who was born in the US, is now based in Bengaluru. She has tasted success by winning on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour in 2024. A prolific winner on the amateur circuit, Anvitha, just 20, won a title in only her second pro start in her hometown, Bengaluru at  Bangalore Golf Club.

The final day will see a good fight for the honours between three young faces who are keen and ready to make a mark at the higher level, as they play together in the third and final round.

Khushi Khanijau (72) and Ananya Garg (73) rounded off the Top-10 as they were tied at 4-over 144. Mannat Brar (69) was one of the only three players — the other two being co-leaders Anvitha and Ananyaa — to bring in an under par score and she was tied-12th alongside Vani Kapoor (73) and Rhea Purvi (71) at 5-over 145. The cut for the Rs.17 lakh event fell at 152 and 30 players will play the final round.

Prominent players missing the cut included past Hero Order of Merit winner, Sneha Singh, Heena Kang and Ridhima Dilawari, who won three of the last six events and withdrew midway through the second round due to medical reasons.