Golf: Gaurika leads field as WPGT resumes with seventh leg at DLF

Gaurika leads the field as the WPGT resumes with the seventh leg on Wednesday at the DLF Golf & Country Club.

The Gurugram-based Gaurika, who turned 23 earlier in August, was not at her best when the first segment of the Tour was held in the period January to March this year before the pandemic forced a halt. Now she is looking to make up for that.

However, Gaurika has good memories of the DLF Golf and Country Club, where she has had two wins, one each in 2018 and 2019. Her last win on the Hero WPGT came in 2019 in the seventh leg at Clover Greens in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.

Gaurika will have to contend with the Bakshi sisters, Jahanvi and Hitaashee, who have shown a lot of promise in the last couple of seasons, as also experienced Neha Tripathi and Seher Atwal, one of two Atwal sisters in the field. Both Jahanvi and Hitaashee have wins to their name and have expressed an ambition to get to the Ladies European Tour in the future.

Of the amateurs, Avani Prashanth has shown a lot of promise for the future and could be the one to watch out for. Even while being an amateur, she has a win on the pro circuit to her name.

The Order of Merit has been combined for the 2021 season alongwith the truncated 2020 season. Amandeep Drall leads the Merit list, but will be missing this week as she is playing in Europe. Vani Kapoor and Ridhima Dilawari, who are also competing in Europe, will not be playing this event.