Diksha soars to second, Aditi is Tied-11 in NSW Open; De Roey leads

Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia, Feb 28: Diksha Dagar was razor sharp with birdie chances on almost every hole and shot a solid four-under 68 in the second round of the Women’s New South Wales Open. Dagar, who was Tied-fifth in the same event last year, carded 69 in the first round and at seven-under 137 she is Tied-second and two shots behind leader, Manon De Roey, who shot 64 in the second round.

Three-time winner on LET, Aditi Ashok recovered from her first round 73 to shoot 68 and rise to T-11 at the end of the second round.

The other four Indians in the field, Tvesa Malik (79-73), Gaurika Bishnoi (74-78), Astha Madan (78-77)and Ridhima Dilawari (81-78) missed the cut, which fell at two-over.

Long-hitting Dagar, who will defend her Investec South African Women’s Open in a fortnight, also eagled the 10thin a round of 68.

She said: “My approach shots were very good, and my putting. I had a birdie chance on every hole. My driving was slightly off and I missed left and right on a few holes, but my irons were great.”

Dagar trails Belgian Manon De Roey by two. De Roey soared into the halfway lead with an eight-under 64 in the second. At nine-under-par, the Belgian, also a long-hitter, moved two strokes clear of her nearest rivals, Dagar, Camilla Lennarth and Agathe Sauzon, at Dubbo Golf Club in Australia.

Dagar who has not had a Top-10 finish in a world ranking tournament since her win in South Africa last March, played stead through the front nine with birdies on third and seventh. She missed a chance on ninth, too. On the Par-5 tenth she had a fine eagle to go to four-under, but a bogey on 11thmeant she dropped to three-under. She parred the next five holes before a birdie on 17thfor a 68.

Aditi birdied third, seventh, ninth and 10thto reach four-under before dropping a shot on Par-5 12th. But she birdied 17thto finish with 68.

Aditi, who was runner-up in successive starts at Open De Espana and Kenya Ladies Open late last season, is trending towards a good finish as she divides her time between the Ladies European and Ladies PGA Tours.

De Roey said, “I made two eagles, which definitely helped.” The 28-year-old from Schilde, in Antwerp added, “Every putt I looked at, I felt like it went in, and it was pretty easy.”

Lennarth, who earned her sole LET title in the 2014 Slovak Open, was pleased with her 69 on a more difficult scoring day.

The 28-year-old Sauzon from Bourg-lès-Valence in France, set the target earlier in the day, with a five-under-par 67.

The 2018 and 2019 champion, Meghan MacLaren, finished just inside the projected cut line, on five-under-par after rounds of 75 and 74.

Read also:  Diksha Dagar lying fifth in NSW Open, two shots behinds leaders

 

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