Golf: Diksha, Pranavi lead Indian golf challenge in Rome

Rome: Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs, the two top Indian women on the Ladies European Tour, will be in action this week at the Italian Open Golf alongside Tvesa Malik, Vani Kapoor and Ridhima Dilawari at Golf Nazionale.

Last week Pranavi Urs finished in Top-10 for the third time this season and has been progressing well in her rookie season. At one stage two weeks ago, Pranavi had a winning chance with a lead, but late mistakes cost her a possible win.

Diksha Dagar had a missed cut in the Scandinavian Open Mixed, where she was the lone Indian, alongside Shubhankar Sharma in the men’s section. It has been a modest season for Diksha as compared to a spectacular one in 2023, when she won once and came close to doing so at the Hero Women’s Indian Open at home.

In the latest standings on the Ladies European Tour, Diksha is 11th and Pranavi lies 13th with more than half the season still left.

Tvesa Malik, who lost her card this year, has been showing better form and picked up a Top-10 recently, Vani Kapoor has had a less than average season for her potential. Ridhima Dilawari, who has been getting limited starts, will be hoping for a better one in Rome.

Italy’s top woman player, Alessandro Fanali, is hoping to go one better than she did as an amateur last time in 2022. She is looking to make history by becoming her nation’s first player to take the famous trophy.

The 300,000 Euros event returns after a gap of one year and the previous winner was Morgane Metraux.