DIksha Dagar at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open. Pic: LET
Czechia, June 24: Diksha Dagar produced a stunning bogey free 7-under 65 to build a whopping five shot lead after two rounds in the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open. She moved to 10-under 134 with rounds of 69 and 65 as was five clear of Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino (70) and English duo of Cara Gainer (68) and Gabriela Cowley (67), who were now 5-under 139 with one more round to go in the event.
Diksha, who won the Women’s South African Open in 2019 is seeking her second title on the Ladies European Tour. A win for her will mean a second LET win for Indians, as Aditi Ashok earlier in the season won the Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
Another Indian, Pranavi Urs, who like Diksha did well on her home Tour, the Hero WPG Tour earlier on, had two eagles on the front nine after starting late in the second round. Pranavi was 5-under for the front nine despite a bogey. Pranavi eagled the Par-5s on the fifth and seventh and added a birdie on the third and ninth, while dropping a shot on Par-3 fourth. At 5-under through 27 holes, Pranavi was Tied-15th.
Also, still to finish their second round were Ridhima Dilawari, who after a first round 74 was even through 15 holes in the second to 2-over for the tournament with three holes left and was Tied-53rd.
Amandeep Drall (74-76) and Vani Kapoor (76 and 20-over through 10 in the second) looked likely to miss the cut.
Diksha, who started the day in tied second, started on the 12th, 15th and 18th to turn in three-under 33 by which time she was already in the lead. Into the second nine, which is the front side of the Royal Beroun Golf Club, Diksha did not take her foot off the pedal and hammered in birdie on the third and the fifth and then landed an eagle on Par-5 seventh for a 4-under 32.
In 36 holes Diksha has just dropped one shot in the first round on Par-5 fifth. In a tournament, where low scoring has been the norm, Diksha has done well on the five Par-5s that are there on the Royal Beroun. She has scored well on the Par-5s and is seven-under for them, despite a bogey on one of them on the first day.
Last week Diksha was in contention but finally finished Tied-third at Amundi German Masters and earlier she was Tied-eighth at Helsingborg Open and Tied-sixth at Belgian Ladies Open.
In 2021 Diksha was tied fourth at the same event and on the same course, when Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul won the title. Last year Diksha was T-43rd.
