Gold Coast (Australia), March 19 (IANS) Diksha Dagar was the pick of the Indians after the first round of the Australian WPGA Championships, being held at the Par-71 Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club as she shot a strong opening round of 4-under 67 to be placed Tied-8th on the leaderboard.

She is four shots behind leader Kelsey Macdonald (64), who set a new course record with her opening round. Hitaashee Bakshi also had a promising opening round as she carded 2-under 69 to start her week.

The other Indians in the field are Pranavi Urs (72) and Vani Kapoor (73), who had a difficult start to the week with scores of 1-over 72 and 2-over 73, respectively. They are placed at T-68 and T-81.

Diksha had a bogey-free day. She began her round on the ninth, which is where the back nine begins. She birdied the tenth and then had another three birdies on the front nine to close the day at 4-under par. The two-time LET winner is now T-8.

Hitaashee Bakshi (69), who is looking to make amends after three tough weeks on the LET, started on the front nine and played even par for the front nine despite finding birdies on the fourth, sixth, and ninth holes.

She made a bogey on the fifth and a double bogey on the eighth to drop three shots. The 21-year-old made another two birdies on the 12th and the 18th holes to close her day with a score of 2-under par and find herself at T-23.

Bakshi found the fairway on every single hole, while her bogey and double bogey came on two of the four holes where she failed to make the Green in Regulation.

Kelsey Macdonald leads the field by one stroke after putting on a sensational opening round to set a new course record at the Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club of 7-under 64. The 35-year-old Scott started her round with a bogey on the first hole before the floodgates were opened on the fourth hole with a birdie. She fired another two birdies on the front nine on the seventh and ninth and then followed it up with three more birdies on the back nine, on the 11th, 12th, and 17th holes, only to finish her round with an eagle on the 18th hole. Macdonald made every Green in Regulation other than the first hole during her record-breaking round.

Local star Hannah Green is in second place, just one stroke behind the leader, along with Charlotte Heath of England. Green looks to be in fine form, fresh from her win last week in Adelaide and her Seventh LPGA title just two weeks before that in Singapore.

–IANS

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