Aug 30; Tvesa Malik registered her best finish outside India with a fine three-under 69 on the final day of the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open on Sunday. The 24-year-old Tvesa, who shot 70-72 on the first two days finished with 69 for a total of 5-under 211 and in Tied-20th place at the Beroun Golf Club in the Czech Republic.
The Top-20 finish for Tvesa was her best outside India, eclipsing T-27 at Magical Kenya Open in December last year. Her best has been T-6 in her home country’s Hero Women’s Indian Open, also in 2019.
Playing in the same group as Tvesa, the other Indian Diksha Dagar had contrasting fortunes as she slipped to a seven-over 79.
Emily Pedersen ended a five-year title drought in style with an eagle on the closing 18th for a day’s round of one-under 71 and a total of 17-under for a four-shot win over Christine Wolf of Austria, who came as close as two shots at one point. Pedersen after 16 holes was two-over for the round but finished with a birdie and an eagle to close the win comfortably.
Interestingly, the only wins for Pedersen and Wolf before this week had come at the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Pedersen won in 2015 and Wolf in 2019.
Tvesa opened with a birdie on 10th, her starting hole of the day. She followed up with nine pars before she found her second birdie, on the second. She added birdies on fifth and seventh and when she came to the ninth, her closing hole of the day, she was four-under for the round. She dropped her only bogey of the day and ended with a 69.
In contrast, Diksha had three birdies, five bogeys and three double bogeys and just seven pars. She was nine over and despite two birdies in her last three holes, she finished with 79.
Sanaa Nuutinen (70) of Finland was third at 12-under with Lucreiza Colombotto Rosso (70) was fourth at 11-under.
Tvesa, Diksha make cut at Czech Ladies Open
Aug 29: Tvesa Malik and Diksha Dagar comfortably made the cut at the Tipsport Czech Ladies Open late on Saturday. Tvesa (70-72) was two-under 142 and Tied-35tth, while Diksha Dagar (70-73) was one-under 143 and Tied-44th at the Beroun Golf Club.
The final round cut fell at two-over-par with 69 players teeing it up for Sunday’s showdown.
Denmark’s Emily Kristine Pedersen, whose sole win on the Ladies European Tour, came in India at the Hero Women’s Indian Open in 2015, shot a second round of 65 (-7) to take a six-shot lead at 16-under-par heading into the final round on Sunday.
On a scoring golf course, which has five Par-5s, the Indians had mixed luck in terms of scoring. Tvesa, who is playing her first full season on the Ladies European Tour had two birdies and both came on Par-3s, at the sixth and 17th, while she dropped a shot on Par-3 fourth and the Par-5 seventh, where she had an eagle a day earlier.
Diksha, who was four-under through eight holes in the first round before carding two-under 70 as she returned on Friday to complete the final hole, which she birdied for 70. In the second round, she was even par for the front nine and birdied 10th to go one-under. She had back-to-back bogeys on 11th and 12th and slipped to one-over and parred the remaining six holes for 73.
With only a round to go, Pedersen shot the lowest round of the day, for the second day running as she stretched her overnight lead from two shots to six from Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen (66-68).
In overcast conditions with the odd splattering of rain, the 24-year-old Dane made eight birdies and a solitary bogey.
A further shot back in third is Italy’s Lucrezia Colombotto Rosso, adding a 69 to her opening round of 66.
LET Rookie Pia Babnik is nine shots back in T6 but has not given up on the chance to win an eighth straight trophy tomorrow, having captured her last seven events in Slovenia, Germany and the Czech Republic.
Tvesa tied 24th, Diksha loses early gains to lie 37th in Czech Open
Aug 29: India’s Tvesa Malik dropped a late bogey on 16th hole but carded two-under 70 at the 2020 Tipsport Czech Ladies Open while Diksha Dagar had one more hole to play when play was suspended due to lightning threat on the opening day. Diksha was one-under through 17 after being four-under through the first eight holes at the Beroun Golf Club. Tvesa was Tied-24th and Diksha was Tied-37th and has still to play the Par-5 18th.
As the Ladies European Tour returned to mainland Europe there was a spate low scores on the international leaderboard and leading them after the first day was the hottest player on the LET right now, Emily Kristine Pedersen, who fired a ‘career-low’ first round of nine-under 63.
Pedersen, whose only win came in 2015 at the Hero Women’s Indian Open, leads by two strokes over England’s Cloe Frankish, Belgium’s Manon De Roey, who made a spectacular albatross on the 7th hole, and Germany’s Leonie Harm. Five other players tied at six-under-par. The top ten is occupied by nine different nationalities.
Tvesa, who made her Major debut last week had a fine start with a birdie on Par-3 fourth and an eagle on Par-5 seventh played steady till she dropped her only shot of the day on Par-4 16th. She closed with two pars.
Diksha had even better start with an eagle on Par-5 second followed by back-to-back birdies on sixth and seventh to go four-under. But there were no more birdies and she dropped shots on ninth, 13th and 15th.
Pedersen starting from 10th, made a birdie and a bogey in her first four holes before catching fire on her sixth hole (15th of the course), making an eagle courtesy of a hybrid to three feet, to move to red numbers. Further birdies on 16th and 17th saw her turn in 32 before coming home in a bogey-free 31, to post the clubhouse lead.
The 25-year-old Pedersen is fresh off a T11 finish at the AIG Women’s Open and a runner-up finish at the Ladies Scottish Open.
Close behind in Tied-second is Belgium’s Manon De Roey who recorded the first albatross of the year as well as four birdies and an eagle in her 65.
