Hero Women's Indian Open: Hitaashee Best Indian On Show As Home Challenge Fades Away

Young golfer Hitaashee Bakshi recorded a rollercoaster one-over 73 in the third round to lie tied 15th, making her the highest-ranked Indian in the Hero Women's Indian Open here on Saturday.

Overnight joint leader Alice Hewson of England was joined at the top by Belgium's Manon De Roey at 3-under-par 213 on a day when just 13 players broke par in the only LET event in South Asia being played at the DLF Golf and Country Club.

On a day when only the two leaders and the third-placed player, England's Liz Young, had under-par aggregates after three rounds of golf, Hitaashee (80-68-73), who had a 4-under 68 in the second round, was undone by the tough course.

However, her three-day aggregate of five-over 221 remained the best among the nine Indians who made the halfway cut.

She was a stroke ahead of amateur Mannat Brar (76-75-71, T21) on a day when the home challenge appeared to be fading.

Pranavi Urs, tied seventh after 36 holes, returned a 77 that included a triple bogey, a double and three bogeys against three birdies as she dropped to tied-21st.

Ridhima Dilawari slipped from tied 12th overnight to shared 35th with a 7-over 79. DLF players Tvesa Malik and Vani Kapoor were tied 35th and 41st, respectively.

Ananya Garg (75) was T-48, amateur Janneya Dasannjee (76) was T-51 and Diksha Dagar (80) was T-55.

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 semifinals of the R&A Girls Amateur Championship and on the testing DLF courses had rounds of 76 and 75 for the first two days.

De Roey, second on the Ladies European Tour's Order of Merit, was one of two players to master the difficult course, returning a 7-under 65 along with Austria's Emma Spitz.

Young (74-74-67), who was 8-under through 15 holes, was two clear at one point. Then, she dropped a shot each on her final three holes to come down to 67. She held sole third place on 2-under 214, up nine places from her overnight 12th spot.

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 was very good," De Roey said later.

"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 it was very solid." "I'm just going to stick to my game plan (on the final day). 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 the 32-year-old.

Hewson, 27, kept herself in title contention with a steady 71 and will line up for a shot at her second title of the year after victory at the VP Bank Swiss Open.

"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 bogeys 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," said Hewson.