By Rahul Banerji
Diksha Dagar will want to follow up on a strong 2019 season and is in the for for the first leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Tour that got under way at the Poona Club Golf Course on Wednesday.
The opening event of the new season will feature 25 professionals and the talented Pranavi Urs as the lone amateur, and will offer a purse of Rs.10 lakh.
Last season Dagar played only four domestic events as she was more focused on the Ladies European Tour and other international Tours in her rookie season in the course of which she won the South Africa Ladies Open.
Dagar will also be looking at a strong showing in 2020 to cement her place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this July-August.
Top guns
Others in the fray at the Poona Club Golf Course include Gaurika Bishnoi and Ridhima Dilawari the two top finishers of the last Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour season.
The two held the spotlight in 2019 with Gaurika going on to win the Order of Merit and Ridhima taking a whopping five titles in all. The duo won as many as seven of the 15 events last year and finished one-two respectively on the Hero Order of Merit.
The field also includes Vani Kapoor, who is seeking a return to form, along with Neha Tripathi, Amandeep Drall and Gursimar Badwal.
Overall the field includes the top five of the 2019 Hero Order of Merit and the only big name missing from 2019 is Tvesa Malik, who is planning to focus on the Ladies European Tour.
The Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) have so far announced the first six events, two each in January, February and March.
Yadav, Mishra, Badliya in first round lead
At the Kensville Golf & Country Club in Ahmedabad,Delhi’s Vinay Kumar Yadav, Mumbai’s Keshav Mishra and Gurugram’s Tinku Badliya fired 2-under-70s to take the first round lead at the PGTI’s Pre Qualifying II for the 2020 season.
While Yadav made five birdies and three bogeys in his opening round, Tinku Badliya struck four birdies and two bogeys. Keshav Mishra had three birdies against a lone bogey.
Ahmedabad’s Anshul Patel and Kolkata’s Imran Ali Mollah were in tied fourth place on 1-under-71.
Panchkula’s Yudhvir Munjal made a hole-in-one on the 11th during his round of 81. He was placed tied 54th.
Out of a total field of 88, the top 24 players (plus ties) will qualify from this 36-hole event, for the Final Qualifying Stage.
Also read: Nijhawan, Modi top PGTI Pre-Quali 1 among 28; JT hangs on for Sentry victory
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