Diksha Dagar makes a flying start at Jabra Ladies Open

Pranavi Urs and Marta Martin of Spain at the Evian Resort Golf Club on day one of the Jabra Ladies Open. Image courtesy LET.

By Rahul Banerji

Two-time Ladies European Tour winner Diksha Dagar opened strongly to share second place after day one of the Jabra Ladies Open De France at Evian-Les-Bains on Thursday.

Diksha was one shot behind leader Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd (66) on 4 under par 67 alongside England’s Hannah Screen and Hannah Burke.

The left-hander put in a strong late run at the Evian Resort Golf Club, hitting five birdies against one dropped shot for her best round at the venue which also hosts the $10 million Amundi Evian Championship in July.

“I’m glad I started pretty well today, and it was also a calming day,”said Diksha on teh LET website later. 

“I played four-under which is probably my best score on this course. My dad and I are very happy that we were able to make some of the putts and some solid shots.

“At first, I used to find it very challenging and I played multiple times on this course and now I have so much experience on it. 

Familiar track

“There’s so much to learn about this course because of that I’m glad it helped me score better here.”

Diksha had birdies on holes seven and nine holes before adding another gain on 15th. 

Her only blemish came on 17th, but she recovered impressively with back-to-back birdies on holes four and five — her closing holes — after starting from the sixth tee.

Among the other Indians in the field, Hitaashee Bakshi endured a difficult round and finished on 8 over 79 and needs a strong second round to make the cut.

Avani Prashanth was best-placed after Diksha on 1 over 72 and tied for 36th place while Pranavi Urs was further down the order in shared 89th on 4 over 75.

Forbrigd, who celebrated her 29th birthday on Wednesday, fired a 5 under 66 that six birdies against one bogey.

Sole blip

The Norwegian birdied the fourth and sixth holes before adding another three on holes nine, 10 and 11. She added one more and her only dropped shot of the day came on 16.

“It was a very good ball striking day, and all my birdie putts were within four metres,” Forbrigd told teh LET website later. 

“I also had a lot of good chances that I missed. It was super steady and felt kind of easy. I had one hole where I had to fight and I had to make par, but overall, it was really good.

“I have a good friend on the bag this week and it’s her first time here, so we’re exploring Evian. 

“We grew up playing golf together and she played college golf, we played club championships together, so we know each other very well.”

Also read: Diksha, Pranavi eye strong display at Jabra Ladies Open

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