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Gwladys Nocera, Melissa Reid Vie for Hero Women’s Indian Open Title

By Elizabeth Bethel

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Defending champion Gwladys Nocera, on the hunt for her 3rd Hero Women’s Indian Open title this weekend at at DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon, India, will have to outplay Melissa Reid, who is also looking for victory!

Gwladys Nocera holds 14 Ladies European Tour titles in 11 different countries (Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, India, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Slovakia, China and Morocco). She led from start to finish to win the 2014 event at Delhi Golf Club and also triumphed in the 2007 Ladies Masters at Eagleton Golf Resort in Bangalore, and she’s the odds-on favorite to hoist the trophy again this year.

Nocera’s primary competition is likely to be her Solheim Cup teammate, Melissa Reid, who is having what can only be described as a sensational season. Reid, who’s posted 4 top-10 finishes at LET events this year, followed up her wire-to-wrire win at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open with a standout performance for the Europeans last month at St. Leon-Rot.

Ranked fourth in Europe, Reid has a chance to overtake Shanshan Feng and win the Order of Merit after the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters. Reid doesn’t equivocate about her goal this week:

"“I would love to get another win before the end of the season. That’s my main goal . . .”"

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The scene is set, then, for a head-to-head battle between Reid and Nocera, one of the Ladies European Tour’s outstanding players.

Currently ranked fifth on the 2015 LET Order of Merit after five additional top 10 finishes including second at the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open and a fourth Solheim Cup appearance, Nocera still has a chance to win the Ranking for the second time since 2008.

"“I’m hitting the ball well, better than I was in the middle of the season, so I feel good,” Nocera observed following her fourth place finish in the recent Xiamen Open."

The 40-year-old from Moulins will face a completely different challenge to the DGC on the newly opened ‘Black Knight’ Course by Gary Player at the DLF Golf and Country Club, an amazing layout featuring extreme elevations and a number of creative design features which offer a variety of playing options and visual looks.

“It’s very different. I don’t really recognize the place from when we were here last time,” said Nocera, who played in the Hero Women’s Indian Open on the previous Arnold Palmer designed course at DLF G&CC in 2011 and 2012. “I’m glad I have my caddie with me and I’m hoping he’ll give me some good numbers.”

The Hero Women’s Indian Open joined the LET schedule in 2010 and has helped to promote and foster the development of golf in India, with each year seeing better results from the domestic players, who are inspired by the competing alongside the visiting international talent.  This year Nontaya Srisawang, who finished inside the top-10 at the Ladies European Masters and again at the Xiamen International Ladies Open, is in position to become the first Indian winner of the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

With Charley Hull, Azahara Munoz, Catriona Matthew and Anna Nordqvist playing this week at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship, the scene is set nicely for a head-on battle between Nocera and Reid at the Hero Women’s Indian Open with Srisawang ready to challenge both players.

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