Record seven Indians reach final stage of LET Q-School

By Rahul Banerji

As many as seven Indians, for the first time ever, are slated to figure in the final stage of the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School in Morocco this week.

Four of them, led by amateur Diksha Dagar,qualified at the Pre-Qualifiers in Morocco on Monday. Dagar, a silver medallist at the 2017 Deaflympics, was tied third at 13-under par that included an eight-under 64 in the third round.

The next best was Tvesa Malik, who has won four times this season on the domestic Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour where she also leads the Money List. She finished tied fifth at 10-under while rookie Astha Madan was T22. Saaniya Sharma grabbed the last available spot at T36.

Earlier, Ridhima Dilawari, who like Dagar played the 2018 Asian Games golf tournament, also qualified for the final stage by finishing T13 in the first Pre-Qualifier.

These five – Diksha Dagar, Tvesa Malik, Astha Madan, Saaniya Sharma and Ridhima Dilawari – will join Vani Kapoor and Sharmila Nicollet, who received direct entries into the final stage.

The final stage will be played in Marrakesh from December 16 to 20 where 116 players will vie for 25 LET cards for 2019.

Digvijay, Sanjeev in early CG Open lead

In Mumbai, former Asian Tour winner Digvijay Singh and Lucknow’s Sanjeev Kumar took the early lead at the Rs 1 crore  CG Open 2018 with scores of six-under-64 at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club on a cool and windy Wednesday.

Sri Lankan Mithun Perera was third at five-under-65.

Digvijay came up with a flawless 64 thanks to work on his putting with fellow professional Gurki Shergill. The seasoned Digvijay, who won an Asian Tour event in India in 2012, made three birdies each on his back nine and front nine to hold the advantage on day one.

Digvijay said, “I’ll give credit to my friend Gurki Shergill who helped me with my putting. I’ve been allover the place over the last few weeks. But Gurki and me worked on something that clicked today.

“Leading up to this event, I was not even coming close to the hole when the putts were within a range of 15 to 20 feet. But today I was shaving most of the holes.”

Strong start

Last year’s runner-up Sanjeev Kumar joined Digvijay thanks to seven birdies against one dropped shot. Sanjeev, who lost out to M. Dharma in a playoff last year, began with a birdie and went on to sign for a 64.

Said Sanjeev, “I felt good from the very start as I birdied the first hole. It brought back memories of last year’s performance when I finished runner-up after a final round of six-under.

“The last round in Bengaluru last week just helped me get in rhythm as I shot a solid two-under there.”

Perera mixed seven birdies with two bogeys for his 65 while fellow-Lankan N. Thangaraja sank back to back eagles en route his round of 66 that had him joint fourth.

Mysore’s Yashas Chandra and Australian Kunal Bhasin also took a share of fourth at 66.

Also read: NGC hands tour rookie Ridhima her maiden pro title