The Hero Women’s Indian Open is just a week away and India’s top performing Ladies European Tour (LET) pro this year, Diksha Dagar, is eager to make a fairytale winning return to her National Open.
Scheduled to be played from 3 to 6 October at the DLF Golf and Country Club, Gurugram, the Hero Women’s Indian Open 2019 will be her maiden International tournament on home soil as a professional golfer.
Interestingly, Diksha had won the ‘Top Amateur’ prize in her first appearance at the 2016 edition of the tournament, when she tied for 47th. Although she missed the cut in 2017, she tied for 49th last year, with rounds of 75, 76, 73 and 75.
The 18-year-old rookie, 15th on the order of merit after the Lacoste Ladies Open de France, said: “This is my fourth time to play the Indian Open. This will help me because it’s in my home country. I have played, so many times, on that course. I have experience of how to play on that course – which side to play the ball and which side is the trouble; I know the course management and it is most important. I have to improve in my putting. On that golf course, you need to focus on accuracy. The course is one of the toughest golf courses on the Ladies European Tour.”
In her rookie season on the LET, Diksha has played in a total of 14 events and she became the youngest Indian winner on LET when she produced two consecutive flawless rounds of golf to edge past local talent Lee-Anne-Pace by one stroke and win the Investec South African Women’s Open at Westlake Golf Club in Cape Town in March.
“At that time, my golf was amazing. It was a good time when I won the tournament; it opened so many doors for me to play,” she said. “I got to play in a lot of tournaments, like Majors and all the LET tournaments.” Diksha was only the second Indian to win on the LET after Aditi Ashok.
“I am thrilled that I was able to win and I am so excited to be playing the DLF golf course at my home. This will be my first year to play as a pro at the Indian Open. I am very confident to perform well.”
Diksha has been on the road throughout this season and gained valuable experience of playing in the elite fields in Europe, which included two Majors: the Evian Championship and AIG Women’s British Open.
“I am satisfied that I managed to make the cut in all the ‘pure’ LET events but it could have been better. In Australia, I performed really well; that has been the best phase of my performance, including South Africa. The first three months were great. Post that, I have been playing my regular game but then I lost my position on the LET Order of Merit rankings. In between, I was changing shafts and trying different clubs so that is a work in progress,” she said.
“For me, it’s all about putting and your short-game. I have to improve my short-game. In golf, short-game and course management are the most important aspects. You should plan according to the hole, where you want to play and you have to avoid the trouble.”
With a dream to win the Hero Women’s Indian Open, a home victory would consolidate her position on the Rolex Women’s World Rankings (368), which places her 54th on the qualification list for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, from which the top 60 will qualify next year.
- Saurabh Singh
