Olympian Diksha Dagar begins European campaign strongly at Lalla Meryem Cup

Two-time Ladies European Tour winner Diksha Dagar came within a whisker of adding a third title to her resume, going down to England’s Cara Gainer in a playoff at the season-opening Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco on Saturday. 

Dagar sort a stunning final round of 6 under par 67 at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat that also saw her set the clubhouse mark on 9 under 210 which Gainer equalled playing in a group behind the left-handed Indian. 

Starting the day in a share of 14th place, Dagar, 24, made seven birdies across the last 18 holes and dropped her only shot of the day on hole 14. In the playoff, she bogeyed the first hole as the Englishwoman rolled in a par putt to seal the win. 

“Happy to start the season with runner-up!” Diksha later posted on her Instagram account. 

Making it a good day for Indian golf, LET debutant Avani Prashanth (71-74-70) finished in a solid 16th place alongside seasoned campaigners like England’s Alice Hewson and Ana Pelaez Trivino of Spain on 4 under 215. 

The Bangalore teenager had earned playing rights on the Europe-based tour at the Qualifying School held in Morocco last December where she finished in 16th place. 

For Gainer, it was a first LET victory after she had started the day in tied fifth place on a tightly-packed leaderboard with several contenders in the fray. The 29-year-old, making her third appearance at the event produced a solid 4 under 69 to pull level with Diksha before sealing victory on the first playoff hole. 

“First tournament back of the year, you can’t really ask for any better,” Gainer said on the LET website. “I was aware when we started how many people were in with a shout, but I knew there’s a lot of good players. 

“I knew people were going to be shooting low scores, so I just wanted to keep in my own bubble, and I thought if I had shot, maybe three or four under, there could be a chance. Then, when I started to birdie the last few, I thought hold on a minute, this could really be real.” 

Talking about her final round, Gainer added: “I missed short putts on 11, 12, 13, and 14 which were all makeable putts, so I was getting frustrated. Then we got to the par-five, where my caddy and I said we could still win this if we birdie. Then from there I just kept racking them up, hitting really great iron shots, with straight up-the-hill putts so that was great.” 

Gainer (71-70-69) had her fiancé Seb Brock on the bag at Rabat. “He’s come with me to caddy this week. It’s really special to have him here and celebrate my first win with me.” 

Shannon Tan of Singapore was third on 8 under 211 while Ireland’s Lauren Walsh and Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz finished in a share of fourth place on 7 under 212. Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjall finished the highest rookie to make a solid start to her first LET season. The Swede clinched the LETAS Order of Merit and was also Rookie of the Year last year. 

The LET next heads to Riyadh for the PIF Saudi Ladies International which will be played from February13-15.