Solid back nine puts Diksha in tied second place in Czech Ladies Open

Beroun (Czech Republic), Jun 24 (PTI) Indian golfer Diksha Dagar struggled initially with the windy conditions but settled down later and turned in a round of 3-under 69 that placed her tied second in the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open here.

Diksha, who has been having a good run of late, was just one shot shy of leader Ana Dawson, the first Isle of Man player to compete on the Ladies European Tour. Dawson shot a four-under-par 68.

While Diksha was tied second, the next best Indian was Ridhima Dilawari (74) and Amandeep Drall (74) at T-46. Pranavi (75) was T-61 and Vani Kapoor (76) was T-88.

Diksha, playing alongside Dawson, began with four pars and then gave away a bogey on Par-5 fifth in blustery conditions.

Once she got a hang of the conditions, she did not drop any more shots. She birdied the Par-5 seven to turn on even par.

On the back nine, Diksha birdied three times — on the 10th, 15th and 18th. Three of Diksha’s four birdies came on Par-5s and her sole bogey was on the other Par-5, the first one on the layout.

Diksha, who went out in 36 and returned in 33, said: “From the start, I struggled because of the wind, but then later I started to adapt to the conditions and my putting was good.”

Ana Pel ez Trivino of Spain is tied for second with Celine Herbin of France, Ursula Wikstrom from Finland and Diksha.

Dawson, who had two eagles, three birdies and one bogey, was 6-under at one stage after 15 holes. Then she lost a ball on the 16th tee and ran up a triple bogey seven.

However, she battled back to finish with a birdie on the 18th hole to edge one stroke ahead of four other players.