Late birdies help Neha take one-shot lead

KOLAR, July 23: Two sets of back-to-back birdies and another late birdie saw a resurgent Neha Tripathi take a one-shot lead in the 10th Leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Zion Hills.Neha, who was the runner-up last week in the ninth leg, had five birdies against two bogeys in a round of 3-under 69 which gave her a one-shot lead over Durga Nittur (70).The only other player other than Neha and Durga to get a score of par or better was Ridhima Dilawari, who shot even par 72 and it included two birdies in the last four holes in the first round.Neha, who is just getting back to form after being ridden with injuries over the past year, had back-to-back birdies on the second and the third, and parred the other six holes on the front nine.She began the back nine with two straight bogeys but picked three birdies on the 14th, 15th, and 17th. (PTI)