Golf: Diksha Dagar finishes sixth for another Top-10, Pranavi tied 17th in Aramco Team Series

Tampa (USA): Diksha Dagar registered her second straight Top-10 finish with a steady 1-under 71 on the third and final day of the Aramco Team Series – Tampa. Diksha, who shot 69-70 in the first two rounds, finished 6-under 210 and was tied sixth. Fellow Indian, Pranavi Urs, playing her first season on the Ladies European Tour (LET), also had a decent finish after an even-par 72 on the final day. At 3-under for 54 holes, Pranavi finished T-17.

It has been a good start for the two Indians, who are both multiple winners on their home tour, the Women’s Pro Golf Tour. Diksha was T-9 in Morocco after being T-19 in Kenya, while Pranavi, the No.1 golfer in India in 2022, was T-5 in Morocco. Pranavi is now 14th on the LET Order of Merit and Diksha is 17th.

Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling fired a final round of 67 (5) to secure a three-shot victory at 12-under.

Diksha had mixed feelings as she said, “It wasn’t easy but on some few holes I had good shots. Because of the wind, I struggled a bit but I made some great ups and downs and it was alright. I’m happy with that. But on some of the birdie holes, I made a few silly mistakes which could have been easily birdie.”

Pranavi Urs was happy with her first Aramco Team Series event, and said, “It was my first-ever team series, so I absolutely loved playing with Bronte (Law) and Sophia [Popov]. I think the first hour was pretty good, it was a bit of a roller-coaster but overall, I think I’ve been playing pretty, and it was good to keep the momentum going from Morocco. I think I did fairly well.”

On the conditions, she added, “I think yesterday (Round 2) and today was really windy. I’m not really used to playing in windy conditions, but I think I handled myself pretty good. Short par for today so which isn’t too bad.”

As for her best moment of the week, she added, “(It was) the first day when I had five birdies in a row. I think it was pretty cool. To contribute as much as I did the first day. I wished I had done better on the second day, but I think just contributing towards the team was really fun. It was just really a good experience.”

Fosterling sat in a share of second place overnight and started well making a birdie on the second hole. Back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seven put Försterling in front before she dropped a shot on the eighth.

However, on the back nine, she remained calm and collected rolling in birdies on 12, 13 and 16 to stay in front and win her third title on the LET with a total of -12.

England’s Charley Hull, the three-time LET winner, was unable to add another victory to her name, but she has two starts in LET events in 2024 and finished second in both of them. She finished in outright second place on nine-under-par after a final round of 71 (-1) in Tampa. England’s Bronte Law, who won the 2024 Lalla Meryem Cup, had a final-day surge firing a round of 67 (-5) to finish in third place on eight-under-par.

Spanish duo Ana Peláez Trivino and Carlota Ciganda ended the week in a share of fourth place on seven-under-par.

Five players finished in a tie for sixth place with France’s Nastasia Nadaud, Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini, Diksha Dagar, Belgium’s Manon De Roey and Germany’s Aline Krauter all on six-under-par. The LET now has a two-week break before heading to Australia for the Women’s NSW Open which takes place March 29-31 at Magenta Shores Golf & Country Club.

–IANS