Kolkata: Upbeat by her first victory in more than a year, Neha Tripathi will start as the firm favourite in the fourth leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Tollygunge Golf Club. The INR 6,00,000 event featuring 17 professionals and lone amateur Tvesa Malik will be played from 10th to 12thFebruary.
Neha registered a three shot victory over Shweta Galande last week and would be eager to continue the winning run. She is currently placed sixth in the Hero Order of Merit with total earnings of INR 1,58,500 and would be keen to see her name move up the list.
Neha however will find Smriti Mehra, Kiran Matharu and Sharmila Nicollet standing in her way. Overseas player Kiran Matharu had a less than impressive outing in the last event and would be eager to make amends. She is currently placed second in the Hero Order of Merit with total earnings of INR 2,65,600 in three appearances and two runner-up finishes to her name. Kolkata’s Smriti Mehra is still searching for her first win this season and has been far from her best. However, she has the experience to turn things around quickly and will be a force to reckon with in the fourth event of the year. She is currently placed seventh in the money list with total earnings of INR 1,53,300. Hero Motocorp sponsored Bengaluru golfer Sharmila Nicollet played in her first event last week, finishing fifth at RCGC. She will look to better her performance and will push hard for her maiden win this season.
Chandigarh’s Saaniya Sharma and Pune’s Shweta Galande are other players to watch out for. Shweta is currently placed ninth in the Hero Order of Merit with total earnings of INR 1,25,000 while Saaniya is at third place with total earnings of INR 2,19,000 in three appearances. Both had strong finishes last week with second and third positions respectively and will try to put an end to their barren run this season.
Other players in the fray will be Kapurthala’s Gursimar Badwal, Jaipur’s Pallavi Jain and the Delhi duo of Ankita Tiwana and Mehar Atwal.
The Tollygunge Club is one of the oldest golf courses in India and the picturesque par 70 golf course is all set for the first round which gets under way today.
