Round two of the Hero Women’s Indian Open saw all four Irish golfers into the weekend as each fought well to remain inside the eight-over-par cutline to compete for much needed Order of Merit points.
Castlerock’s Annabel Wilson bettered her opening 75 with an level-par finish in round two to remain three-over in T28. It was a tale of two nines for Wilson who made three bogeys in a row closing out the front nine but fought well to get back to even par with three birdies on the back.
24-year-old Canice Screene followed up her two-over-par round one with a three-over round two to sit in T39 at five-over. It was a round of pros and cons for Screene as some good work saw the Croham Hurst member card four birdies, but some costly mistakes saw her make five bogies and a double.
A top five finish to push Screene into the top 100 in the rankings is quite unlikely as she remains 12 shots off the lead at the halfway point of the tournament, but Screene has said that she is willing to return to Q-School if necessary.
One shot back from Screene on six-over is Dublin’s Anna Foster as the Elm Park member posted back-to-back 75’s to sit in T46.
A slow start for Foster saw four bogeys and a birdie on the front nine as the 24-year-old struggled to reduce the deficit on the way back to the clubhouse.
Cork’s Sara Byrne just squeezed into the weekend as a two-over-par round two took her to seven-over, but the 24-year-old will be happy to compete for points as she currently sits three spots outside the desired top 60.
Byrne showed glimpses of her class, making four birdies throughout her round, but costly bogeys ultimately crushed the chances of a red digit round.
The dense Indian heat seems to be an issue for some, but local golfer Hitaashee Bakshi is well accustomed as the 21-year-old fired a bogey free five-under round to soar to the top of the leaderboard.
Bakshi, who is competing in her first full season on the Ladies European Tour, rolled in her first birdie on the fourth before adding back-to-back birdies on seven and eight.
Bakshi made two further birdies on 12 and 13 to seal her flawless round at her home golf course at DLF Golf and Country Club, and climb to the top of the leaderboard with a score of seven-under-par.
“It’s amazing to perform on home soil finally and it’s good to be back,” said Bakshi.
“I have been playing here for 14 years, I’ve grown up over here and played every single day. It’s amazing to perform the way I finally want to during a tournament. I hold the women’s course record of -8, so I’m going to try to beat that in the next few days,” added Bakshi.
Germany’s Verena Gimmy and Indian amateur Zara Anand are tied for second place one shot further back on six-under-par.
Two players are in a share of fourth place with Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini and India’s Pranavi Urs both on five-under-par.
Round three will begin at 9.10 am (local time) with the leading group teeing off at 11.11 am (local time) in India.
Leaderboad.
