Diksha dominates Czech Ladies Open, wins after almost five years

Diksha Dagar of India maintained her lead throughout the final round to claim her second LET title at the Czech Ladies Open at Royal Beroun Golf Club.

The 22-year-old from New Delhi carded rounds of 69, 65 and 69 for a 54-hole total of 203, 13-under-par and a four-stroke victory over Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab. 

Dagar earned her first win at the 2019 Investec South African Women’s Open as an 18-year-old rookie professional and it has felt like a long wait for her second title.

“I’m feeling very happy. I finally won after five years. My first win just happened and for this event, I really worked hard for this. For the last three weeks, I was very close to a win and it has finally happened,” Dagar said.

“I feel so happy to be part of the winner’s circle again. It has given me confidence and I finally believe in myself that, yes, I can do it.”

Dagar, who began the final day with a five-stroke lead, made a steady start with six consecutive pars before recording a pair of birdies on the seventh and ninth holes. On the long seventh, she hit her second shot left into the bunker but made a great up and down. Then on the ninth, she drove towards the green but was a little unlucky that her ball again rolled into the bunker, but she splashed out and tapped in. 

She had strong birdie chances on both the third and fifth holes. The only hiccup was on the tenth, where she pulled her drive into the lake resulting in her only bogey of the day.

Her short game was on point and on the 13th, she had a fast downhill chip which she played beautifully resulting in a solid par there.

On the long uphill par-5 15th, she hit an excellent drive followed by a 3-wood short of the green. Again, she played an excellent chip and made a beautiful putt from 15 feet. 

She had another good chance from six feet on the short 17th, but just missed it. On 18, she hit a long drive and played her 6-iron deliberately to the right side of the green to avoid the bunker. From just short of the green, she played another delicate chip, setting up a tap-in birdie to finish. 

Dagar continued: “I saw the scoreboard on the 16th and I thought, thank God I made a birdie on the 15th. I faced a difficult chip on 16 and after I made a par there, I thought, with two holes to go and a three-shot lead, I can finally breathe a little more easily.”

She thanked her father, Colonel Narinder Dagar, for caddying for her, adding that her main goal is qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games and representing her country there, which is why she is taking a more disciplined approach in all areas of her life, forgoing watching films and TV late at night for more sleep.

“My key to success was just following the routine. I have worked on my putting skills and also been getting a lot of sleep, which keeps you focused,” she said.

Second placed Cheenglab from Thailand set the clubhouse target with a final round of eight-under-par 64 to move up into second position, her personal low round and career best result on the LET.

The 27-year-old LET rookie, who previously played on the Thai, China and Taiwan Tours, had two eagles and four birdies on her scorecard. Her first eagle landed on the par-5 fifth hole and she finished in style by chipping in from the back of the 18th green.  Cheenglab said: “I’ve got goosebumps. I had many chances for eagles since the first day but just had one in the second round. My mum was caddying for the second straight week and she was tired, because it was so hilly, but she helped to cheer me up throughout the round.”

Celine Herbin of France carded a final round of 67 to end in outright third position on eight-under-par, while English trio Lily May Humphreys, Gabriella Cowley and Cara Gainer tied for fourth with Scotland’s Laura Beveridge, who carded a sensational nine-under-par 63, which was the low round of the tournament.

Beveridge, who had her husband, Keil, on caddie duties, said: “It was good. I feel like we were really good with our club choices into greens, we were sensible and we sneaked a few early on. I hit the ball nicely of the tee. I’ve been hitting some absolute tonkers and I hit one which was 326 (yards), on 14, down the hill. We’ve been working on tempo and keeping it mellow; nice and smooth.”

The 63, which included six birdies in a row from the 15th to the second holes, was a personal best for Beveridge and equalled the course record set by Emily Kristine Pedersen in 2020.

Beveridge continued: “I’ve played in all of the events so far and haven’t taken a break. This is week seven. We get to a point where we’re trying to find a bit of rhythm so hopefully, I can kick on because it was at this event last year where I hit a turning point, so I have good memories here.”

In the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol, with a tie for eighth, Ana Pelaez Trivino moved into the number one spot ahead of Aditi Ashok. Klara Davidson Spilkova moved up into third place, with Linn Grant dropping to fourth. 

With her win, worth 500 points, Diksha Dagar climbed from 22nd to fifth place, followed by Lily May Humphreys in sixth, Chiara Noja in seventh, Alice Hewson in eighth, Cara Gainer in ninth and Celine Herbin in tenth.

The LET now moves to Helsinki for the Ladies Open by Pickala Rock Resort at Pickala Golf in Finland.