Wollongong [Australia], March 21 : Undeterred by the missed cut last week, Diksha Dagar, a two-time Ladies European Tour winner, shot a fine 4-under 67 in the first round of the Women's NSW Open.
Starting from the ninth, which is the first hole on the back nine of the Wollongong Golf Club, Diksha opened with a bogey but then had seven birdies in the next 10 holes. Her fortunes reversed as she dropped three shots in four holes - the third, fifth and the sixth - before she picked a last birdie on the seventh. Her 67 put her tied fourth, as Spain's Nuria Iturrioz and home favourite Kirsten Rudgeley became the 18-hole leaders as both opened with rounds of 65 (-6).
Diksha, who was runner-up in the season-opener in Morocco at Lalla Meryem Cup, had eight birdies but four bogeys, three towards the end of her round saw her card only a 67.
Among other Indians, Pranavi Urs shot even par 71 and was T-37, while rookie Avani Prashanth, who had a Top-15 finish last week, was T-54 with 1-over 72.
Pranavi had two birdies against two bogeys, while Avani Prashanth had two birdies against three bogeys.
Four-time Ladies European Tour (LET) winner Iturrioz got the ball rolling in Australia, carding seven birdies in the morning to set the target. This was despite carding an early bogey at the par-4 3rd hole.
As the wind picked up in the afternoon, Rudgeley made the element her friend as she got off to a hot start birdying the par-5 1st. Three more birdies followed at the 4th, 5th and 8th with the Aussie's only dropped shot coming at the 6th as she went out in 32.
Battling the wind a relishing Rudgeley would card three more birdies at the 11th, 13th and 14th to match Iturrioz's tally before a steady finish secured her the 65 (-6).
One adrift from the pair is Anna Magnusson who carded eight birdies on Thursday morning thanks to some great putting.
Seven players share fourth on four-under-par: India's Diksha, Finland's Ursula Wikstrom, Czech Republic's Sara Kouskova, New Zealand's Amelia Garvey, Denmark's Cecilie Finne-Ipsen, Thailand's Aunchisa Utama and Switzerland's Kim Metraux.
This is a 72-hole stroke play event with a 132-player field.
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