Golf: Diksha and Pranavi placed Tied-19th after a wet first day in Korea

Seoul (South Korea), May 9 (IANS) India's Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs started with cards of 1-over 73 each on the first day of the rain-hit Aramco Korea Championship. India’s other two stars, Tvesa Malik (79) and Avani Prashanth (79), were both T-86 and needed good second rounds to make the cut.

At even par through 17 holes, Diksha was inside the Top-10 till she came to the ninth hole, her closing hole of the day. She bogeyed the hole and dropped to 1-over and Tied-19. Pranavi had just one birdie against two bogeys in her 73, and she was also T-19.

The rain proved a tough test for the stars of the Ladies European Tour (LET).

Only six players were under par, with France’s Perrine Delacour and Germany’s Patricia Schmidt tied at the top with a three-under par score. The former, a recent winner at the Investec SA Women’s Open, also tops the Team event with her side on 13-under par.

Diksha started from the tenth and had two each of birdies and bogeys to turn in even par. On the second nine, she bogeyed the first but got the shot back with a birdie on the fifth. A dropped shot on the last hole saw her go over par.

Pranavi opened with a birdie on the tenth and then had bogeys on the 15th and the sixth.

Out in the first group of the day, Delacour, alongside her squad of Maha Haddioui, Eleanor Givens and Polly Mack, set the benchmark teaming up for 14 birdies to post a combined score of 13-under par. They lead Team Kouskova by one shot.

The captain, Olympian Delacour, led from the front, carding five birdies and dropping just two shots at New Korea Country Club for a round of 69 (-3).

Joining her at the top of the Individual leaderboard is fellow LET winner Schmidt. The German, winner of the 2023 Belgian Ladies Open, also made five birdies, dropping her only shots of the day at the par-4 1st and par-3 11th.

In the team competition, Team Dagar was T-6, while Team Urs was T-12, and she also had Avani on the team. Tvesa Malik, who was on Team Babnik, was T-24.

Three players share third spot on two-under par, a trio which includes South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace, Ecuador’s Daniela Darquea and defending champion Hyo Joo Kim from South Korea.

--IANS

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