Late slip costs Diksha a top-10 placing at Aramco London event

Diksha Dagar was going well on day three of the Aramco Team Series London event at the Centurion Club on Friday till a late blemish affected her final placing. Image courtesy let.com.

By Rahul Banerji

A costly triple bogey on the long par-4 16^th hole knocked Diksha Dagar out of a potential top-10 finish in the Aramco Team Series London on Friday.

The Paris Olympics-bound Diksha had rebounded from a dropped shot on the par-4 third hole with birdies on 5 and 9 at the Centurion Club and was in sole seventh place before her drive on 16 found the rough.

The lie, alongside the out of bounds line forced a difficult recovery and by the time the Indian star found the hole, she had dropped off the pace in what would turn out to be a riveting finale.

At T14, Diksha (75-68-75) still gained 13 places on the day while Tvesa Malik who also made the 36-hole cut at Centurion was shared 48^th on 6 over par 225 (73-77-75) with a closing 2 over round.

It was a disappointing end to Diksha’s run on Centurion’s hilly layout and narrow fairways especially after her bogey-free second round that put her in contention for a top five finish.

At the head of the field, Ireland’s Leona Maguire became the first from her country to earn a Ladies European Tour title in a fascinating battle down the final stretch with England’s Georgia Hall.

It needed an eagled 18^th hole to make sure Maguire would add to her two LPGA and two Epson Tour titles with the Aramco Series win in London with her first win on the LET.

Hard yards

“I did it the hard way today,” overnight leader Maguire (66-72-73) said later.

“It was tough out there and my caddy kept saying stay calm, stay patient and at the end he said I needed one of the shots of my life to win. I knew I was making a run today and was happy to keep it going.

“Could not have asked for a better start in my first LET win. On the final hole, I was just trying to make a good putt, just like a Solheim Cup situation. No Irish girl has won on the LET so this is for Ireland, my family, my friends…”

Maguire overcame a double bogey on hole six when she went out of bounds off the tee and another dropped shot on 16 before sealing her win with an eagle three on the par-5 18^th as Hall could only manage par to slip into a tie for third.

Spain’s Maria Hernandez (73-71-68) took second place after setting the clubhouse target on 7 under par 212.

She would finish a stroke behind Maguire whose compatriot Lauren Walsh had the day’s best card of 8 under 65 to share third place with Alison Lee of the US and Hall.

Double blow

There was double disappointment for Hall after completion of the individual stroke-play section of the tournament with defeat in the team playoff when she and fellow team captain Nastasia Nadaud of France opted to represent their respective teams in the knockout.

Tied on 24 under after the first two days, Hall had to finish he individual event on Friday before returning to take on her 19-year-old French opponent only to face disappointment again on the third playoff hole.

Both eagled the par 5 hole 18 the first time, split birdies on the second try before the nerveless Nadaud birdied again on the third after Hall sent her drive way to the right and struggled to par the hole.

Maguire took a two-stroke lead into Friday with a 1 under 72 on Thursday and started briskly on Friday with two opening birdies before dropping two bogeys and a double in the next six holes.

With the lead changing hands almost by the hole, the 29-year-old overcame yet another dropped shot before nailing the decisive eagle putt that shut out clubhouse leader Hernandez with an 8 under par 211 total.

Thursday’s cut fell at 6 over par with 69 players making it through to the final day of the individual competition.