Diksha Dagar shares third behind title playoff at German Masters

By Rahul Banerji

Continuing with her string of strong recent results, Diksha Dagar finished in a tie for third at the Amundi German Masters near Berlin on Sunday.

Kristyna Napoleaova of the Czech Republic won her maiden Ladies European Tour title beating England’s Cara Gainer on the first playoff hole at Golf & Country Club Seddiner See.

Thetwi had started the final day as co-leaders and even after the final putt had dropped in regulation, they were still locked together on 14 under par totals.

On the first playoff hole though, it was the Czech footballer turned golfer who dropped a birdie putt after the Englishwoman had failed to make hers count,

Behind them, Diksha and Germany’s Sophie Hausmann finished level on 11 under par 277s, the former closing with a par round of 72 to a bogey-free 64 by Hausmann.

“It was definitely dramatic, but I don’t think it was just the last hole I think it was pretty much the whole day,” Napoleaova, the fourth first-time LET winner this season, said on the tour website.

Good week

“There was a lot of scrambling and I’m proud we managed to get where we are now and I couldn’t have done it without my great team and caddie. It has been a really good week so far and I hope on the way home we may celebrate it later.

“I was struggling the whole week off the tee and with the irons as you could probably see today.

 “But I think the putting was amazing the whole week. That was the main thing, even in the playoff, that got me there and to get the first win.”

She added: “I still can’t believe that not even seven years ago, I hadn’t held a golf club and now I’m on the Ladies European Tour and winning an event.

“It’s amazing and I can’t wait to do another one and especially next week being back home, so hopefully there’ll be a good crowd there.”

Gainer and Napoleaova both brought in matching I under 71s, and fell just short in her search for a breakthrough LET win.

In the Race to Costa Del Sol, Aditi Ashok still leads the standings as she has done since the first event of the season but Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino is now only 3.47 points behind.

Diksha’s third top 10 finish of the season puts her 22^nd on 417.92 points from 11 starts,

Sweden’s Linn Grant is third with Czechia’s Klara Davidson Spilkova fourth and Germany’s Chiara Noja in fifth place.

The LET heads to the Czech Republic next week for the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open which will be played from June 23 to 25.

Also read: Diksha Dagar overcomes conditions to sit third at German Masters