The Hindu : Sport : Three golfers share lead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 06, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Sports : General

Three golfers share lead

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: It was tantalisingly close. The second shot from the fairways and Gwladys Nocera almost holed an ‘eagle,’ the ball deflecting off the flag-pin.

The near miss saw Nocera share the opening day’s honours alongside two Swedes, Anna Tybring and Lotta Wahlin, with a three-under 69, in the EMAAR-MGF Ladies Masters European Tour golf event at the Eagleton Course here on Wednesday.

The course held true, but the greens turned tricky and with gusty winds compounding the problems, many big names slid down the leader board.

Tybring, teeing off in the third group, was amongst the early leaders with a two-under in the first nine and then birdied in the 11th hole to card a one-under on the back nine for a three-under 69.

Nocera, sixth in the Order of Merit, came up with an impeccable showing.

Meanwhile, Wahlin had a good back run with a two-under.

Besides the par 4 fifth-hole, which most of the golfers had it easy, the 11th and 13th too turned good for Wahlin.

Sophie Walker of England played a steady one-under both on the up and the return for a two-under 70 finish, while Korea’s Bo Ri Lee and Denmark”s Amanda Moltke-Leth occupy the third slot with a one-under 71.

The pre-event favourite with 69 titles, including four majors to her credit, Laura Davies of Great Britain had a forgettable day floundering in the sides to finish a distant five-over 77 and sharing the eighth spot with eight others.

India’s Smriti Mehra failed to conquer the conditions and the field and languished amongst the lower rungs, even as another Indian, Tania Wadhwa, managed a two-over 74 at the end of the day.

The scores:

Top 10 (after 18 holes): 69: Anna Tybring (Swe), Gwladys Nocera (Fra), Lotta Wahlin (Swe); 70: Sophie Walker (Eng); 71: Bo Ri Lee (Kor), Amanda Moltke-Leth (Den); 72: Titiya Plucksataporn (Tha), Lisa Hall (Eng), Cassandra Kirkland (Fra), Stephanie Arricau (Fra), Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (Fra), Ana Sanchez (Esp).

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport