Diksha finishes T6 at Italian Open, Pranavi shares 19th place

File photo of Diksha Dagar who was sixth at Ladies Italian Open near Rome on Sunday. Image courtesy WGAI.

By Rahul Banerji

Diksha Dagar closed with a 1 under par 71 to take shared sixth place at the Ladies Italian Open while tour rookie Pranavi Urs was T19 and Tvesa Malik T42 on Sunday.

Diksha, who had earlier rounds of 67 and 72 totalled 6 under 210 for the week, four shots behind winner, Amy Taylor of England, who closed with 69 after 70 and 67 on the first two days.

Pranavi shot a level 72 on Sunday while Tvesa was 1 over 73, while Vani Kapoor and Ridhima Dilawari missed the cut at Club Nazionale near Rome.

Diksha dropped only three shots through the tournament, one on each day. She had six birdies on the first day, one on the second and two on the Sunday.

It was Diksha’s first Top-10 since her third place in Johannesburg in late April. She now holds tenth place on the LET Order of Merit, where she was third last year.

Next week Diksha will defend her title at the Czech Ladies Open and also scheduled to play two majors and the Olympic Games later this year.

Breakthrough win

For Taylor (69), it was a maiden Ladies European Tour title and she won by one shot over Spain’s Maria Hernandez (67). Camille Chevalier, whose only LET win came in India in 2017, was tied third with Singapore’s Shannon Tan and Italian amateur Francesca Fiorellini.

Diksha was one of the five players in a tie for sixth, a group that included Pia Babnik, Alessandro Fanali – who fired a final round 67  – Emma Spitz and Kirsten Rudgeley.

“I have no words at the moment,” Taylor, 23, said on the LET website. “I can’t really believe it. 

“Earlier this week I went to the Trevi Fountain in Rome and threw a coin in to wish that I would win! I didn’t tell anyone, but it came true! So Rome really is a magical place and I’m so grateful to win here.

“I felt a bit nervous before I started. But once I got on the golf course it was just another round and I felt good.

“Luckily I got off to a good start. I had a couple of three putts which wasn’t ideal but had a few tap-in birdies which really helped me.”

Sunday’s result saw Diksha in 10^th place on the LET Order of Merit, and Pranavi in 12^th.

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