Tvesa Malik, Diksha Dagar. Filepics
Gothenburg, Sweden, June 8-9: Tvesa Malik will have Swedish company as she plays alongside Rikard Karlberg and Josefine Nyqvist in the first round of the Volvo Scandinavian Mixed hosted by Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam. Tvesa and Diksha Dagar are the two Indian women stars while Shubhankar Sharma is the lone Indian male player in the field that is made up DP World Tour and Ladies European Tour members.
Apart from Tvesa, the other Indian in the field is Diksha Dagar, who makes her first start in mainland Europe this year. Diksha also won the gold medal at the Deaflympics last month and is only one of the two Indians to have win a title on the LET.
In six starts this season, three in Africa, one in middle east and two in Asia, Diksha’s best has been T-21 in Kenya Ladies, while for Tvesa, who was 19th in the LET order of Merit last year, this is the 11th start. Her best has been T-26th at the Aramco Series in Bangkok, where her team was also T-15. So, she is looking to get some better results.
Interestingly, Tvesa’s playing Karlberg has twice won in India including the Hero Indian Open in the past.
The Indian male player in this mixed field is Shubhankar Sharma, who plays with Sebastian Soderberg and Carmen Alonso, a LET member from Spain.
For the second year running, DP World Tour members and leading players on the Ladies European Tour will come together in Sweden. The co-sanctioned event will feature a field of 78 men and 78 women playing in the same groups for one prize fund and one trophy, the only tournament of its kind on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR.
This year’s tournament also has an increased prize fund of US$2million, which is up from the €1million purse for 2021.
Defending champion Jonathan Caldwell was one of 14 first-time winners on the DP World Tour during the 2021 season. The Northern Irishman began the final round at Vallda Golf and Country Club three shots off the lead but carded a brilliant 64 to get to 17 under and set the target, which held up.
Adrian Otaegui had a chance to win it on the last but three putted the 18th for the only bogey of his closing 67 to finish one shot back in second, with Alice Hewson in third place and as the leading female golfer.
Tournament hosts Henrik Stenson and Annika Sörenstam, who were inducted into the Swedish Golf Hall of Fame on Monday, are joined by a number of home favourites in the field this week.
Ryder Cup winner Alex Noren, a ten-time DP World Tour winner, returns to Sweden for the first time since 2019 as he bids for a third career victory on home soil after doing so in 2011 and 2015.
Maja Stark is the current leader in the Race to Costa del Sol – the Ladies European Tour’s season-long Rankings – after registering a victory at the NSW Open last month and six top-10s in her first seven tournaments of the campaign.
There will also be much attention on Ingrid Lindblad after her six-under 65 in the first round of last week’s U.S. Open, the lowest round by an amateur in the 77-year history of the Major Championship.
Meanwhile, Linn Grant, who sits third in the Ladies European Tour rankings, claimed a five-shot victory at the Joburg Ladies Open in just her first start on the LET as a full member in March. She claimed her second title in five starts at the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open last month.
