Diksha Dagar at Irish Open 2023. Pic: LET
Dromoland, Ireland, Sep 4: Diksha Dagar could not produce the kind of a finish she needed for a second win this season, but ended seventh at the 2023 KPMG Women’s Irish Open. It was her sixth Top-10 of the year, during which she has also won once.
In a tournament where the leaderboard was extremely tight, she shot 2-under 70 on the final day for a total of 13-under and lost by three.
The seventh place finish also pushed Diksha up into the third place on the Race to Costa Del Sol, the Order of Merit for the Ladies European Tour. She overtook fellow Indian Aditi Ashok, who has been dividing her time between the LET and the Ladies PGA in the US. The Top-4 at the end of the season will earn a card into the Ladies PGA Tour.
Diksha, who led the field after the first and second days, slipped to T-3 after the third round and was finally seventh.
Smilla Tarning Soenderby fired the round of her life, a 10-under 62, to post the clubhouse lead and was later joined by Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson and Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands. Soenderby then secured a dramatic playoff victory.
Diksha missed a few short putts and her two bogeys on the 18th, on the third and the final day, proved costly as she came close to victory but could not close it.
Among other Indians, Tvesa Malik gave herself a confident finish as she produced two good rounds over the week with 69-70, that could have been even better. From being on the cutline after 36 holes, she finished T-36 and was the second best Indian.
Vani Kapoor (71) was T-54 and Ridhima Dilawari 80) was 69th. Amandeep Drall missed the cut.
France’s Celine Boutier still leads the way with 1,725.38 points with Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino in second place with 1,487.20 points. Diksha has moved up to third place with 1,337.34 and Aditi Ashok is fourth and Sweden’s Linn Grant is fifth. Celine had played just four events and Aditi only seven.
Diksha, starting the day three behind the 54-hole leader, Anne Van Dam, got off to a decent start with birdies on the second and sixth as she closed the gap with the leader to just one shot. A bogey on the eighth, where she had a double a day earlier, set her back.
She endured an up-and-down run with a birdie on 11th but had a bogey on 12th. Then came birdies on the 15th and 17th but missed one on Par-5 16th. When she came to the 18th, she was 14-under and her only chance to try and get into a play-off was an eagle. She went for it but landed in water and missed a 9-10 footer for par to give away a bogey. She ended 2-under for the day and 13-under for the week and seventh on the leader board.
Soenderby of Denmark headed into the final day in a tie for 21st place after rounds of 71-67-72 on the first three days at Dromoland Castle. She had 11 birdies and one bogey. She was 5-under and bogey free on the front nine. She started the back nine with three birdies in a row, making it four in a row from ninth to 12th. She bogeyed the 12th, but bogeyed the 14th. Then she had three birdies in last four holes to set a clubhouse target of 16-under, which was also reached by Lisa Pettersson and Anne Van Dam.
In the play-off the 23-year-old Dane, reached the green in two and sunk her eagle putt to secure her maiden title on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
A year ago, the Dane made a three-putt on the 18th and missed out on an opportunity to win.
Sweden’s Pettersson had an eagle, four birdies and two bogeys on her scorecard for a round of 68 (-4) and also post a total of 16-under-par.
Dutch star Van Dam held a three-shot lead going into the final round but had an up and down day with four bogeys and five birdies, including one on 18th, for a 71 (-1)/
However, on the way to the playoff Van Dam’s bag got caught under a gallery rope and fell off the buggy which led to her driver shaft snapping.
Despite that, she made the the green in two but just missed her eagle putt which would have forced another hole.
Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley ended the tournament in fourth place on 15-under-par after shooting a round of 67 (-5) on the final day.
