Hero Women’s Indian Open: Meghan and Whitney in joint lead

Meghan MacLaren and Whitney Hillier carded five-under par 67 in hot and humid conditions to be in joint lead at the end of day one of Hero Women’s Indian Open.

Meghan MacLaren of England during the first round of Hero Women’s Indian Open.

England’s Meghan MacLaren and Whitney Hillier of Australia carded five-under par 67 in hot and humid conditions to be in joint lead at the end of day one of the Hero Women’s Indian Open at the DLF Golf and Country Club here on Thursday.

Good start

Meghan, who loves this course and believes it suits her game, had a good start with birdies in the first two holes but bogeyed on the fourth. On the back nine, she made four birdies.

“It was a bit of a mixture. I made a lot of birdies out there and was fought really really positively, thought I could have got some more. Back nine was very different from the front nine. To say the least,” said the Brit.

Norway’s Mrianne Skarpnord shot 68 to be tied third with Liz Young of England. Linda Wessberg of Sweden was in fifth with three-under par 69.

Faltering

Things didn’t go quite well for the defending champion Becky Morgan, who was five-over par at 77 and tied at 78.

She hopes for a better score on Friday. “I was doing okay until I got to 17th, just got really unlucky where my ball finished. 17th hole can cause so many problems but I have been fairly lucky at the 17th hole over so many years but this year got my number there.

“I was thinking a level par score would be a decent score not too far from the lead but this finish ruined my day. I just hope to get a revenge tomorrow,” Becky told Sportstar .

The Indians had a fairly impressive day. Amateur Pranavi Urs, tied at 10th overall, finished with one-under par at 71.

Amandeep Drall, Diksha Dagar and Tvesa Malik are all tied 18th with a par score of 72. Jyotsana Singh, a rookie on the circuit, made a hole-in-one at the 140-yard par-3 16th, using a 7-iron. She is tied at 28th at one-over par.

Astha Madan, Gaurika Bishnoi and Neha Tripathi also finished at the 28th place.

Top scores 67: Meghan MacLaren (Eng), Whitney Hillier (Aus); 68: Marianne Skarpnord (Nor), Liz Young (Eng); 69: Linda Wessberg (Swe).