WOMEN'S INDIAN OPEN AT DELHI GOLF CLUB

SALLY WATSON IN TOP 10 BUT CARLY 

AND KELSEY MISS CUT

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR NEWS RELEASE

NEW DELHI, INDIA  -- Gwladys Nocera fired a second round of one under par 72 at Delhi Golf Club today to maintain her lead at the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

At 10 under par 136, the experienced Frenchwoman is two strokes clear of Indian rookie professional Vaishavi Sinha.

Three strokes further back on five under par 141 is last year’s champion Thidapa Suwannapura from Thailand, who would likely to need to equal her first round of six under par from last year to challenge.

Glamorous Indian professional Sharmila Nicollet is in a share of fourth place with English duo Hannah Burke and Holly Clyburn and Belgian Chloe Leurquin on four under par 142.

But Nocera, a 12 times winner on the Ladies European Tour, felt that the difference between her opening 64 (-9) and today’s 72 was purely her putting.

“I played well but the putts didn’t drop. Today hit 15 greens in regulation and had 33 putts. Yesterday I had 26 putts,” she said.

She also felt the pin positions were more challenging. “I think the pins were tough today - beside major slopes - and it was tricky.”

She had two birdies against one bogey on the front nine and made nine pars on the back nine, but missed a short birdie chance on the last hole, after the ball hit a spike mark.

Although Nocera was fairly satisfied, Sinha was unhappy with her second round 71, as her ball striking did not match the first round.

“Yesterday I hit 12 greens and today I hit 10 greens,” said Sinha. “My hitting was a lot worse today and it was quite frustrating because I didn’t miss greens just on the edge, I was missing way left and they were wild shots, so my short game was really good today.”

The United States Symetra Tour player from the nearby city of Noida, 25km from Delhi Golf Club, hopes to have double cause for celebration on Saturday, her 24^th birthday.

Should she win, she would become the first Indian winner on the Ladies European Tour. Smriti Mehra is currently the only Indian woman to have won a professional golf tournament outside India, with three wins on the Futures Tour, now called the Symetra Tour and three in Asia. 

She is also the only Indian player to have competed on the US LPGA Tour where she played for 14 years. 

Nicollet also has a chance to become the first Indian winner after two straight rounds of 71. Her second 71 included an eagle on the par-5 eighth, but she made bogey on the last, blaming it on bad light.

“ I started off badly with two bogeys and I hit one in the trees with a penalty,” said Nicollet, from Bangalore. 

“Overall my putting was really good: 28 yesterday and 29 today so it’s improved overall and I’m playing well with the game I have this week. You never know what happens tomorrow and I’m going for the win.”

SCOTSWATCH: Sally Watson is lying joint eighth on two-under-par 144 with scores of 73 and 71. She is 12 shots off the pace. The other two Scots in the starting field, Carly Booth and Kelsey MacDonald failed to survive the cut which fell at six-over 152.
Carly shot 75-79 for 154 while Kelsey was 81-75 for 156
 

  SECOND-ROUND SCORES

   Par 146 (2x73)

136 Gwladys Nocera (FRA)  64 72

138 Vaishavi Sinha (IND)  67 71

141 Thidapa Suwannapura (THA)  70 71

142 Chloe Leurquin (BEL)  69 73, Sharmila Nicollet (IND)  71 71, Hannah Burke (ENG)  71 71, Holly Clyburn (ENG)  67 75

144 Klara Spilkova (CZE)  74 70, Fabienne In-albon (SWI)  71 73, Hyeon Seo Kang (SKOR)  72 72, Sally Watson (SCO)  73 71

145 Gursimar Badwal (IND)  70 75, Titiya Plucksataporn (THA)  71 74

146 Punpaka Phuntumabamrung (THA)  75 71, Janya Morrakotphan (THA)  75 71, Nina Holleder (GER)  73 73, Ye Seul Lee (SKOR)  73 73, Tiffany Tavee (USA)  76 70, Beth Allen (USA)  73 73, Bo-Mi Suh (SKOR)  71 75, Wannasiri Sirisampant (THA)  75 71, Sophie Walker (ENG)  74 72, Gauri Monga (IND)  70 76

147 Sophie Sandolo (ITA)  73 74, Rebecca Codd (IRL)  74 73, Holly Aitchison (ENG)  75 72, Meechai Kusuma (THA)  75 72, Sahra Hassan (WAL)  72 75

148 Wichanee Meechai (THA)  72 76, Pimpadsorn Sangkagaro (THA)  74 74, Liz Young (ENG)  70 78, Smriti Mehra (IND)  73 75, Linda Wessberg (SWE)  72 76

149 Aditi Ashok (IND)  74 75, Connie Chen (RSA)  76 73, Saraporn Chamchoi (THA)  72 77, Shweta Galande (IND)  70 79, Carlota Ciganda (ESP)  71 78, Leigh Whittaker (GER)  75 74, Pennapa Plusawath (THA)  74 75, Muangkhumsakul Kanphaninan (THA)  73 76, Vani Kapoor (IND)  71 78, Jaruporn Palakawong Na Ayutthaya (THA)  76 73, Rhea Nair (IND)  74 75, Steffi Kirchmayr (GER)  73 76

150 Laura Jansone (LVA)  77 73, Cathryn Bristow (NZL)  74 76, Alexandra Vilatte (FRA)  74 76, Stefania Croce (ITA)  72 78, Caroline Martens (NOR)  75 75, Ursula Wikstrom (FIN)  78 72

151 Isabell Gabsa (GER)  78 73, Becky Morgan (WAL)  77 74, Elina Nummenpaa (FIN)  75 76, Minea Blomqvist (FIN)  74 77, Tanaporn Kongkiatkrai (THA)  76 75, Eleanor Givens (ENG)  74 77

152 Nikki Campbell (AUS)  75 77, Saaniya Sharma (IND)  80 72, Mallory Fraiche (USA)  81 71, Caroline Afonso (FRA)  77 75, Christine Wolf (AUT)  80 72, Rebecca Hudson (ENG)  81 71, Mireia Prat (ESP)  77 75, Sophie Gustafson (SWE)  75 77, Amy Boulden (WAL)  73 79

MISSED THE CUT

153 Bo Mi Kwak (SKOR)  77 76, Henni Zuel (ENG)  77 76, Karolin Lampert (GER)  78 75

154 Hae Ra Park (SKOR)  74 80, Carly Booth (SCO)  75 79, Aretha Pan (MYS)  79 75, Krista Bakker (FIN)  75 79, Grace Lee (SKOR)  74 80, Viva Schlasberg (SWE)  78 76, Florentyna Parker (ENG)  77 77

155 Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ)  75 80, Lauren Taylor (ENG)  81 74, Michelle Koh (MYS)  82 73, Lucy Williams (ENG)  78 77

156 Tiranan Yoopan (THA)  79 77, Alison Whitaker (AUS)  73 83, Rungthiwa Pangjan (THA)  81 75, Isabelle Boineau (FRA)  77 79, Neha Tripathi (IND)  76 80, Kelsey MacDonald (SCO)  81 75

157 Kumi Uchiyama (JPN)  77 80, Maha Haddioui (MAR)  78 79, Ainil Bakar (MYS)  76 81, Amandeep Drall (IND)  75 82

158 So Young Jang (SKOR)  81 77, Patricia Sanz Barrio (ESP)  77 81, Kiran Matharu (ENG)  76 82, Veronica Zorzi (ITA)  77 81

162 Tanya Wadhwa (IND)  83 79

163 Ankita Tiwana (IND)  79 84

164 Pallavi Jain (IND)  81 83

165 Julia Davidsson (SWE)  84 81

166 Angel Sze (HKG)  84 82

167 Numa Gulyanamitta (THA)  87 80

168 Josephine Janson (SWE)  83 85, Preetinder Kaur (IND)  82 86, Kaoru Ohori (JPN)  87 81

 

Bethan Cutler

Media Manager

 

Ladies European Tour

Tel: +44 (0)1895 831 028