File photo of Diksha Dagar who finished in a share of third place on Sunday at the Joburg Ladies Open. Image courtesy LET.
By Rahul Banerji
A late rally carried Diksha Dagar to a share of third place at the Joburg Ladies Open and her best finish on the Ladies European Tour of the season on Sunday.
The wiry left-hander carded scores of 73, 71, 69 and 70 on the par-73 Modderfontein Golf Club to total 9 under par 283. Tvesa Malik took a share of 29th place on level par 292 while Vani Kapoor and Ridhima Dilawari were further down the order.
Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini, in her rookie season, aggregated an impressive 17 under 275 (70-68-67-70) for her maiden LET title. Fellow-rookie Aunchisa Utama of Thailand took second place on 10 under 282.
Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes was shared third alongside Diksha, a two-time winner on the LET.
Diksha sank four birdies over her closing nine holes to climb the leaderboard with a 3 under par 70 on Sunday. It fetched the Tokyo Olympian her third top-10 finish of the season after Morocco and Florida.
Flying finish
The left-hander dropped one shot on the front nine and parred the rest. On her way back to the clubhouse, Diksha picked up strokes on holes 11, 12 and 13 and added a fourth on 18 for a prize money cheque of Euro 15,750.
The Johannesburg performance also sets her up well for this week’s Investec South African Ladies Open in Cape Town that opens on Thursday.
Tvesa (71-75-72-74) was tied for 24th overnight and going well on Sunday with three early birdies till she stumbled on the final nine holes with two bogeys and a double that dropped her into a share of 29th place.
Vani Kapoor (76-75-70-74) tied for 41st place on 3 over 295 and Ridhima was tied 66th on 11 over 303 with cards of 73, 78, 73 and 79.
At the top, the impressive Tamburlini closed out her run on the Modderfontein course with a dominant performance to win by a solid seven strokes.
After a clean round on Saturday, the 24-year-old added seven birdies on her way to a closing 3 under 70 that made her the third Swiss to win on the LET.
Big result
“This obviously means a lot,” Tamburlini said on the LET website later.
“Being able to win on the LET in like my seventh start or so this year is really special. It just feels like all the hard work has paid off. I am honestly speechless at the moment and beyond grateful to be here and be able to win this tournament today.”
The newest LET winner said: “I had always dreamed about it but I didn’t know that I was actually capable of doing it, so to be standing here now is just very, very nice.
“I just tried to go lower and lower and keep pushing until the end really. I think that is what kept me in it. I just set myself small little goals during the round, so I didn’t get comfortable, and I think that worked out really well.”
The win made Tamburlini the second rookie to win this season after Shannon Tan’s heroics at the season opening Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
Belgium’s Manon De Roey, South Africa’s Nicole Garcia and Czechia’s Tereza Melecka finished in a tie for fifth on 8 under par.
Also read: Diksha finishes well to take a T15th place at Epson Tour event
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