Thidapa and Valentine off to a blistering start on day 1 of the Hero Women’s Indian open 2013

NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 28: Thailand’s Thidapa Suwannapura and French golfer Valentine Derrey overcame the challenges of the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) to shoot excellent rounds of six-under 66 each and took the joint lead after the first round of the Hero Women’s Indian Open 2013 here on Thursday.

The duo has a two-stroke cushion over US golfer Hannah Jun, who carded a four-under 68, for a one-stroke lead over Ladies European Tour (LET) sensation Charley Hull of England. Thai Titiya Plucksataporn and South Korean Bo-Mih Suh shot 70 apiece to share the fifth position.

LET stalwarts Sophie Gustafson of Sweden, Korean Grace Lee and Sarah Kemp of Australia too squeezed into top-10 with rounds of 71. They are currently placed seventh in the leaderboard.

Among Indians, Gurgaon girl Vani Kapoor and DGC amateur Gauri Monga shot one-over 73 each to finish the day in tied 13th position.

Thidapa, who is one of the three Thai girls to play on the US Tour, made most of her chance as she knocked in seven birdies and dropped just one shot. The 21-year-old started from 10th tee and picked birdies on 11th, 13th and 16th holes. She kept her momentum going into the back nine and fired birdies on first, fourth and sixth holes. Her only blemish came on seventh but recovered soon with a birdie on eighth.

Thidapa, who is chasing her maiden victory on the LET, said accurate hitting made her day. “I putted well but I think it was excellent driving that made my day. I didn’t use driver quite often and kept my tee shots into the fairways. The course is very challenging and you have to be very careful out here,” said Thidapa. “This is my third attempt at the Indian Open and last year I finished 13th. I am expecting to bridge the gap and take away the title,” she said.

She got a tough fight from Valentine, who remained bogey-free throughout the day. The 26-year-old French golfer, who is yet to cap a victory on the LET, made three birdies on each turn of the course.

She said she didn’t expect such a low round early in the day but she banked on her thoughtful game. “I played a practice round yesterday and the course was playing tough. Today, I told myself to just keep control on tee shots. I did the same and all other things fell in place.”

Valentine also participated in the Hero Women’s Indian Open in 2011 when the tournament was held at the DLF Golf and Country Club. She said playing on a narrow course like DGC was challenging. “I am not a long hitter of the ball but still you have to be very careful here. You can’t take your tee shots for granted. So, it’s challenging playing here,” she said.

USA’s Hannah Jun who is struggling to save her card at LET reignited her hopes with a good round. She sank four birdies on her first six holes while a birdie and a bogey each on the back nine helped her finish on a high.

Hannah from California who hasn’t yet tasted victory on LET made most of the challenging course at DGC. “It’s good to open up with such a good round. I was five-under till 11th hole and a mistake on 12th hole for a bogey was the only loose point of my round. The course was challenging but I found the fairways on most of the occasions,” said Hannah.