Diksha Dagar the top Indian finisher at the Hero Women’s Indian Open receives Hero Scooter from Mr. Niranjan Gupta, CEO of Hero MotoCorp
Three Indian girls finished in the top 10 at the 15th annual US$400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open which took place at the spectacular DLF Golf & CC last week.
Top of the list was Diksha Dagar, who finished third at 8-under 280. This was Dagar’s eighth top-10 of the season on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and it moved her into second place in the 2023 LET Rankings called Race to Costa Del Sol. The best season-ending finish by an Indian is Ashok’s second place on the LET Order of Merit in 2016. Dagar now sits just 78.27 points behind France’s Celine Boutier while she is 132 points ahead of Gustavsson. With three events remaining on the schedule, including the lucrative Aramco Series final in Saudi Arabia this week, Dagar has a realistic chance to top the Race to Costa Del Sol.
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Should she pull it off, it would be a historic achievement, one whose impact on Indian women’s golf could not be overstated.
Even if she doesn’t, Dagar has already had one of the best seasons ever for an Indian on the LET and has proven she has the game to compete at this level.
Avani Prashanth shot 6-under 282 to register a T-5th finish
Including Dagar, India had three players in the top-10, five in the top-16 and six in the top-20. Leading the way was amateur Avani Prashanth. The 17-year-old provided yet more evidence of her talent and potential by finishing in tie for fifth at 6-under par. She broke par in three of her four rounds and closed with a three-under 69 in the final round on a day when only six players in the field broke 70. Prashanth also matched the best finish by an amateur in the event. Anika Varma also finished fifth in 2019.
Gaurika Bishnoi registered a T-8th finish at 2-under 286
The other player in the top-10 was Gaurika Bishnoi, who finished at 2-under 286. Bishnoi was seventh on the WGAI Order of Merit heading into the Women’s Indian Open, but had played in only six events, winning two. Her performance at the DLF Golf & Country Club will move her up that list and should serve as a boost for her confidence as well. Gaurika also automatically earns a spot in this week’s Aramco series, by finishing in the top 10 in India.
Looking further down the leaderboard, Vani Kapoor and Amandeep Drall, two veterans on the WGAI Tour, finished in a tie for 16th at 2-over 290. Rounding out the Indians in the top-20 was Nishtha Madan, who played collegiate golf at California State University of Sacramento and is currently playing on the Epson Tour in the United States.
Events such as the Women’s Indian Open are extremely important in promoting and growing the game in the country. It gives Indian golfers who are not on the bigger tours the chance to measure their game against players from other countries and gives fans the chance to watch a higher standard of golf. When Indian golfers do well in such events, it has a knock-on effect on their individual games, while also potentially inspiring young kids to take up the game. The more kids that take up the game, the stronger the game’s foundation becomes.
With Ashok and Dagar already established on the LPGA and LET respectively, and Prashanth looking like the next big thing, Indian women’s golf appears to be trending in the right direction. Should the game continue on this path, it will only be a matter of time before an Indian golfer repeats Ashok’s feat and lifts the Hero Women’s Indian Open trophy.
Germany’s 23 year old Aline Krauter, a Stanford University graduate with a stellar amateur record, dominated the tournament, posting a five-shot victory over Sweden’s Sara Kjellker. Krauter finished at 15-under 273 after rounds of 69, 68, 68, 68, making her the only player in the field to shoot in the 60s in all four rounds.
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Her victory means Aditi Ashok, who won in 2016, remains the only Indian golfer to lift the trophy, but it still provided plenty of reasons to cheer for Indian golf.
Photo – LET Flickr