Diksha wins at Hero women’s golf tour

Gurugram, Dec 1 (IANS) Amateur Diksha Dagar completed a wire-to-wire victory after a third successive sub-par round in the final leg, while Gaurika Bishnoi claimed the Order of Merit of the Hero Womens Pro Golf Tour on Friday.

The 16-year-old left-handed Diksha carded a round of two-under 70 and took her three-day total to 9-under 207, winning by 11 shots over the three golfers who tied for the second place. Diksha's earlier rounds were 66 and 71.

Gaurika (71) aggregated two-over 218 (73-74-71) and was tied for second alongside Neha Tripathi (73) and the other amateur in the field, Ananya Barthakur, who struggled with a round of 78 on the final day.

Gaurika emerged as the winner of the Hero WPG Tour Order of Merit. Gaurika, who had only one win this season, was nevertheless very consistent.

The 19-year-old Rohtak-born Gaurika, who turned professional only in 2016, won the third leg at Kolkata, but has finished second on five occasions and was third on three occasions. Her earnings for the year are Rs. 12,45,400 while Amandeep Drall earned Rs. 11,28,300. Neha Tripathi was third with winnings of Rs. 9,93,300.

Diksha had a three-shot lead over the other amateur, Ananya, when play started on the final day. A shaky start with bogeys on the first two holes saw Diksha stumble, but then she not only steadied herself but made amends in a strong manner.

She birdied four times in the remaining seven holes of the front nine to turn in two-under and then added birdies on 10th and 11th to go 4-under for the day. However, a double bogey on par-3 17th saw her fall to 2-under and she ended with a card of 70.

Gaurika Bishnoi needed to finish tied 5th or better in case Amandeep won, to ensure the Order of Merit honours. However, with Amandeep off colour with a round of 78 that had no birdies against six bogeys, Gaurika's success was confirmed.

Gaurika also played well on the final day with four birdies against three bogeys for her 71, the only sub-par card other than Diksha's 70.

Neha (73) and amateur Ananya were also tied second with Gaurika, while Amandeep Drall (78) and Saaniya Sharma (77) were tied-5th.

Gursimar Badwal (75) was seventh, while Smriti Mehra (73) and Mehar Atwal (73) were tied eighth. Siddhi Kapoor (76), who holed her second shot at the par-4 first hole, was tenth.

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