De Roey, Hewson lead Hero Women’s Indian Open as home challenge fades

Overnight joint leader Alice Hewson of England continued atop the standings on day three of the $400,000 16th Hero Women’s Indian Open where she was joined by Belgium’s Manon De Roey on 3 under par 213 at the DLF Golf and Country Club here on Saturday.

De Roey, second on the Ladies European Tour’s Order of Merit, was one of two in the field to master the challenging course, returning a 7 under 65 along with Austria’s Emma Spitz. Only 13 players broke par on the third day with just the top three compiling under-par totals after 54 holes.

England’s Liz Young (74-74-67), who was 8-under through 15 holes, was two clear at one point before dropping a shot each on her final three holes to finish with a 67 that gave her sole third place on 2-under 214, up nine places from her overnight 12th spot.

“I had a good run in the middle. It's a shame about the finish, but on this course, anything can happen in any hole. So, happy to come in under par for the day,” the 42-year-old said. 

“I felt I played really well all day. I'm just playing safe. I mean, you just can't be aggressive around this golf course. I've always done that every year I play here. And once I'm on the green, then my caddie really helps me with reading the putts. And we did a good job today.” 

While De Roey (74-74-65) moved up from tied 16 into a share of first place, Spitz (76-75-65) – who claimed a rare eagle on the par-4 17th hole – was the day’s other big mover, climbing from tied 35th to sole fourth, three strokes behind the lead pair.

“Today everything really worked out my way. The last few days, I kind of always got off to a slow start and never got it going. It was really difficult to make good decisions and commit to  shots. Today it was totally different. I really was able to commit from the beginning and I think that really changed everything.” 

About the eagled 17th, one of the more difficult on an already testing course, the Austrian added, “I hit a sand-wedge from about 68 yards after my tee shot. There was no on the green at the time and when we reached, the ball was nowhere to be seen. So we looked around thinking it had gone off into the water, but found it safely inside the cup.”
“Today was very good,” co-leader De Roey said of her round. “I created a lot of birdie chances for myself, hit it really close on a few holes and just made some putts. That's quite the difference between the first two days, I think. I didn't make so many putts, but today, yeah, it was very solid.”

On her thoughts ahead of Sunday’s final round, the 32-year-old said, “I'm just going to stick to my game plan. This is a tough course, it's a challenge. There's a lot of golf to be played. There are a lot of chances out there, but I'm very excited about tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.”

Added co-leader Hewson, “My round was really solid today. I played just nicely throughout the day. I got off to a quick start with two birdies, but had two quick following that. Settled into the round quite nicely and just played very solid after that. Had lots of good saves with some pars, but also let a couple of birdie opportunities go by. 

“We're just trying to take it a shot at a time, have fun and pull it our way around the golf course. It's playing really tricky again today and the wind started getting up, so just course management is kind of key. Nothing changes for tomorrow. Go out there, have fun, enjoy it.”

After three days, DLF player Hitaashee Bakshi (80-68-73) in tied 15th at 5 over 221 was the best-placed of the nine Indians who made the cut. She was a stroke ahead of impressive amateur Mannat Brar (76-75-71, T21) on a day the home challenge all but ended.

Pranavi Urs, tied seventh after 36 holes, returned a 77 on Saturday that included a triple bogey, a double and three bogeys against three birdies and dropped to T-21st. Ridhima Dilawari slipped from tied 12th overnight to shared 35th place with a 7 over 79. 

The impressive Mannat was the only Indian to return a sub-par card on Saturday that included four birdies against three dropped shots. Earlier this year, the 17-year-old became the first Indian to reach the semi-finals of the R&A Girls Amateur Championship and on the testing DLF courses had rounds of 76 and 75 for the first two days.
Hewson 27, lines up for a shot at her second title of the year after victory at the VP Bank Swiss Open while De Roey is also a winner this season at the Investec SA Open.