Golf: Sharmila Nicollet jumps into lead on day two at Jaypee Greens

Greater Noida: Sharmila Nicollet fired a sensational five-under 67 to lead the field after round two of the 15th leg of the Hero Women’s Professional Golf Tour at the Jaypee Greens here today. One stroke behind is rookie Amandeep Drall who returned with a score of two-under 70 to total 142 after the second round. The INR 6,00,000 event will culminate tomorrow. Hero MotoCorp sponsored Sharmila, who is eyeing her first title of the year, carded nine birdies, which is a record for a single day in the entire season. [caption id=“attachment_2420162” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Sharmila Nicollet. AFP[/caption] Sharmila, known for her ferocious driving, made use of the conditions well and carded four birdies in her front nine on the 1st, 4th, 7th and 8th holes, along with three bogeys on the 3rd, 5th and 6th holes. On the back nine, Sharmila was a transformed player and carded a flurry of birdies on the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th holes with just a lone blemish on the 10th. She finished with a total of 141 after two rounds. Amandeep carded three birdies on the 4th, 5th and 8th holes, while dropping a shot on the 2nd. She started her back nine with a double bogey on the 10th but rectified her mistake soon with three birdies on the 13th, 14th and 16th holes. She could have ended the day tied for the first spot but for a bogey on the 17th hole. The Panchkula professional ended round two with a score of two-under 70 to be just a shot adrift of the leader. Overnight leader Neha Tripathi came up with an effort of three-over 75 to occupy the third spot. Her round consisted of three birdies on the 1st, 9th and 13th holes, along with six bogeys on the 2nd, 3rd, 10th,11th, 14th and 18th holes. The Kolkata golfer finished with a score 145 after 36 holes. Gursimar Badwal ended with a level par score to take the fourth position. The Kapurthala golfer carded four birdies which were cancelled out by the same number of bogies as she finished with a total of 146. Veteran Smriti Mehra returned with a score of four-over 76 to finish fifth with a total of 147, while amateur Diksha Dagar is in the sixth position with a total score of 151. Hero Order of Merit leader Vani Kapoor finished seventh with a total of 152, while amateur Anisha Padukone with a total of 153 is in the 8th position followed by Saaniya Sharma of Chandigarh in ninth position with a score of 154. PTI