Hulencourt (Belgium), July 3 (IANS) Diksha Dagar’s impressive run on the Ladies European Tour showed no signs of slowing down as the in-form Indian produced another composed, bogey-free round to move into a share of the first-round lead at the Hulencourt Women’s Open on Thursday. Fellow Indian Aditi Ashok also made an encouraging start, finishing inside the top 10 after the opening day.

Diksha carded a flawless four-under 68 to join South Africa’s Nadia van der Westhuizen, Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux, and England’s Bronte Law at the top of the leaderboard after 18 holes.

Aditi, returning to the LET after a lengthy break, signed for a two-under 70 to occupy tied seventh place, while Avani Prashanth recovered strongly for an even-par 72 to be tied 24th. Another golfer, Pranavi Urs, opened with a one-over 73 and was tied for 33rd.

Starting in the morning wave, Diksha quickly settled into her rhythm and never looked back. She collected birdies on the first, sixth, 10th, and 14th holes while avoiding mistakes throughout the day despite demanding conditions at Hulencourt Golf Club.

“It was a very steady day of golf,” said the 25-year-old. “It was really tough conditions, but still we continued and stayed composed. I’m very happy that I went bogey-free. It was tough to read the greens, so I focused on the speed. The greens are also much faster than last week.”

The latest effort extends an outstanding stretch of form for Diksha, who has now strung together four consecutive top-20 finishes on the LET. Two weeks ago, she narrowly missed forcing a playoff at the Dutch Ladies Open after finishing tied third, and she arrived in Belgium placed 11th in the Order of Merit standings.

The confidence from those performances was evident in her approach throughout the round. “It doesn’t matter what the conditions are like, I know I can still play the same, and the form is there,” Diksha said. “I think I’m very intuitive and go with my gut feeling a lot. I’m feeling very confident at the moment.”

Aditi also enjoyed a productive opening day. The five-time LET champion mixed four birdies with two bogeys to stay within two shots of the lead and firmly in contention heading into the second round.

Avani, who has also enjoyed an impressive season that includes a tied-third finish at the Dutch Ladies Open, displayed resilience after slipping to three over through 11 holes. She bounced back impressively with three birdies over her closing four holes to salvage an even-par card.

Pranavi’s round featured three birdies but four dropped shots left her one over for the day, though she remains well placed to make a move over the remaining rounds.

With calmer conditions emerging during the afternoon after a breezy morning, several players capitalised to catch the early clubhouse target set by Diksha.

Van der Westhuizen, playing only her fourth standalone LET event after competing largely on the Sunshine Ladies Tour, produced five birdies against a lone bogey to join the lead.

Olympian Morgane Metraux, a two-time LET winner who recently recorded a top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour at the Dow Championship, also signed for a 68 after making five birdies and one bogey.

England’s Bronte Law completed the four-way tie at the summit with a four-under round in only her third LET appearance of the season.

Just one shot behind the leaders at three under were Thailand’s 2023 Order of Merit winner Trichat Cheenglab and Finland’s veteran Ursula Wikstrom.

Sharing seventh place alongside Aditi on two under were Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley and Kelsey Bennett, England’s Meghan MacLaren, Hannah Screen, and Liz Young, Slovenia’s Pia Babnik, Spain’s Carolina Chacarra, and Sweden’s Corrine Viden.

Defending champion Darcey Harry of Wales was forced to withdraw during the opening round because of a hip injury.

–IANS

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