Diksha fourth, Aditi eighth in NSW Open
DUBBO (AUSTRALIA): Indian golfer Diksha Dagar recovered superbly from a terrible patch in the middle of the front nine to return one-under 71 in the third round of the Women’s New South Wales Open here on Saturday.
Dagar, who reached 10-under at one stage before giving up five shots in three holes between fourth and sixth, fought back with four birdies in the remaining holes to get to eight-under at Dubbo Golf Club.
However, with Belgian Manon de Roey striking brilliant form with six-under 66, Dagar finds herself seven shots behind the leader, who is 15-under and five ahead of secondplaced Julia Engstrom (68).
India’s other contender in the fray, Aditi Ashok added a twounder 70 and moved up to Tiedeighth at five-under 211.
Aditi opened with a birdie but ran into trouble between third and ninth with three bogeys and anther one on 11th.
She was two-over for the day at that stage, but five birdies in a row from 12th to 16th brought her back in the fray for at least a Top-10 before a bogey on 18th pushed her back slightly.
De Roey backed up her course record 64 with a superb six-under 66 in the third round. Teenage star Engtrom was in second after a 68, with fellow Swede Camilla Lennarth right behind her in third position.
De Roey has won three times on the LET Access Series and is now just 18 holes away from her first victory on the LET.
The 28-year-old from Antwerp, Belgium, started the day with a two-stroke advantage and birdied two of the first three holes, before making her sole bogey at the sixth.
She birdied the long ninth and 10th holes to build a fourstroke lead and added three more birdies at the 13th, 14th and at the short 18th, where she chipped in from the front of the green.