From left Lydia Ko; Ryu and Bo Mee and below Amandeep Drall. Pics- SImone Asia Pacific and file
Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug 18: Amandeep Kaur started the day with a bogey but ended it with a birdie as she carded an even par 72 on the first day of the inaugural Simone Asia Pacific Cup at the at the Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta.
in Indonesia on Thursday. Amandeep, who is partnering Vani Kapoor (78), was lying T-10 in individual standings. In team standings, Amandeep and Vani at 6-over are T-12th in the USD $ 750,000 event.
India’s other two players Diksha Dagar (74) and Gaurika Bishnoi (77) are T-14th at seven-over. Individual Diksha is T-18, Gaurika is T-30 and Vani is T-32.
India is fielding two teams with Diksha Dagar partnering Gaurika Bishnoi, while Amandeep Drall and Vani Kapoor have been put together.
South Korea’s seasoned campaigner So Yeon Ryu fired a seven under-par 65 to grab a one-shot lead. The 32-year-old Ryu had seven birdies in a bogey free round.
Former World No. 1 and currently No. 4, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, the highest-ranked player in the field, had a brilliant birdie-eagle finish for a bogey-free 66 to join Philippines’ Princess Mary Superal in second spot.
Korea’s Team 2 with Ryu and Bo Mee Lee (67) led the Team standings with -12 while Philippines (Princess and Pauline Rosario) and Japan 2 comprising Kokona Sakurai (70) and Maria Shinohara (71) were 3-under and tied second nine shots behind the leaders. Lydia Ko and Momoka Kobori (76) were fourth at 2-over.
Overall Amandeep had three birdies against three bogeys, while Diksha, the second best Indian at T-18, seemed to be going fine till the 16th at which point she was even par for the round. She then dropped shots on Par-3 17th and Par-5 18th to finish 2-over.
Gaurika, who started the day with a double bogey had no birdies but dropped shots on three other holes for a 77, while Vani Kapoor started the day with a birdie but slid thereafter. She bogeyed fifth and double bogeyed eighth to turn in 2-over. On the back nine she had four more bogeys for a card of 6-over 78.
As Ryu and Lydia and Princess stood out, another South Korean Bo Mee Lee ended the opening day in outright fourth place, two off the pace after trading five birdies against a lone bogey on the par-three fifth.
Thailand’s Patcharajutar Kongkraphan, the 2012 Indonesian Ladies Open champion, also enjoyed a solid start by carding a 70 to share fifth with Japan’s Kokona Sakurai. World Number eight Hyo Joo Kim could only card an opening 72 to sit in a four-way tie for 10th.
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