Wolf in the fast lane with back-to-back 68 and four-shot lead

Wolf in the fast lane with back-to-back 68 and four-shot lead

Gurgaon: Austrian Christine Wolf devoured birdies like never before to card a second successive 4-under 68 and open up a massive four-shot lead over the rest of the field at the halfway stage of the Hero Women’s Indian Open 2018 at the Gary Player-Signature DLF Golf and Country Club here on Friday.

Wolf, who had never shot a round in the 60s in her previous four visits to India, sunk seven birdies in a sparkling nine-hole stretch and three bogeys, she shot 68 to set herself up for her maiden Ladies European Tour win in a six-year long pro career. Her best at the Women’s Indian Open has been Tied-11 in 2016.

The middle segment of the scorecard was liberally sprinkled with seven birdies in a nine-hole stretch from the fifth to the 13th holes. She reached 10-under at one stage but bogeys on the 14th and 17th brought her back to 8-under, which was still enough to give her a four-shot lead over Thailand’s Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras (68-72).

The Thai, who plays on the LPGA, looked like catching up with the Austrian as she reached 6-under with two holes to go. She ran into a disastrous triple bogey on Par-4 eighth, which was her 17th hole as she hit into the water twice. She birdied the final hole get to 4-under and four behind Wolf.

“I’m really pleased with the way I played yesterday and also today. I hit a lot of greens and hit my iron shots close, so I gave myself a lot of chances and I really enjoyed it out there. I made a lot of birdies and tried to keep high numbers off the score card, said Wolf.

Tvesa tied 7th 
India’s Tvesa Malik (72-71) was Tied-7th alongside Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen (74-69), French Celine Boutier (72-71) and Thai Kanphanitan Muangkhumsakul (72-71).

On a day, when Wolf rose above all, Indian golf too took a huge step forward with eight Indians, including three amateurs, making the cut that fell at 7-over. Led by Tvesa, the others were Gaurika Bishnoi (71-74) at T-16th,  Ridhima Dilawari (69-77) at T-27th, Vani Kapoor (77-73), Astha Madan (75-75) and amateur Pranavi Urs (76-74) at T-51st besides two more amateurs Sifat Sagoo (72-79) and Diksha Dagar (75-76) at T-61st.

This was the highest number of Indians making the cut in the history of the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

Overnight leader, Norway’s Tonje Daffinrud (66-75) was 1-under through 13 holes, before she triple bogeyed the 14th and dropped yet another shot on 15th to lose four shots in two holes. She parred the rest for 75 and was 3-under 141 and third.
Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord (68-74), French golfer Manon Molle (72-70) and England’s Eleanor Givens are 2-under and Tied-4th.

“I’m disappointed with today, I feel I could have finished much better, I had a lot of good chances for birdies especially in the last 4-5 holes but I could not convert. My game has been good so hopefully tomorrow and day after will be better. I started really good with two birdies on the 10th and 11th, had another birdie on the 16th,” said Tvesa.

Enjoyed reading The Bridge Chronicle?
Your support motivates us to do better. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to stay updated with the latest stories.
You can also read on the go with our Android and iOS mobile app.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
The Bridge Chronicle
www.thebridgechronicle.com