Women’s Indian Open golf | Diksha Dagar finishes creditable third; rookie Aline Krauter cruises to a five-shot win

Aline Krauter wins Hero Women's Indian Open golf title, 5-stroke margin over Sara Kjellker. Diksha Dagar finishes 3rd, Avani Prashanth 5th, Gaurika Bishnoi 9th. Vani Kapoor, Amandeep Drall 16th. Krauter earns $60K, 2-year exemption from LET. Indians dominate top-10.

Diksha Dagar finished a creditable third before Aline Krauter added another chapter to the tale of a ‘rookie’ winning the $400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open golf title at the DLF Golf and Country Club here.

Commencing the final round with a two-shot lead on Sunday, the 23-year-old German shot a third successive round of four-under 68 for a winning tally 15-under 273 that gave her a five-stroke triumph over Sweden’s Sara Kjellker.

During the round where Krauter never trailed, her lead shrunk to one after a bogey on the fourth hole and rose to a high of seven shots between 14 and 16 holes. The eventual five-hole margin came about after Kjellker birdied the 17th hole and Krauter three-putted for a bogey on the final hole.

Krauter’s maiden title on the Ladies European Tour earned her $60,000 and a two-year exemption from qualifying for the Tour events. Kjellker collected $36,000.

Diksha may have fallen short of running the eventual champion close but rose in the LET Order of Merit to the second spot after her seventh top-10 finish of the year, Diksha started with a bogey but improved her chances of a strong finish with an eventful run between the fourth and the ninth holes. Diksha fired five birdies against a lone bogey to take the turn at a 33. However, on the back nine, Diksha could only manage a birdie and two bogeys for a 37. With Krauter looking increasingly steady in the leaders’ group, Diksha stayed in the tied second spot for sometime before falling back following her bogey on the 14th hole.

Bengaluru-based amateur Avani Prashanth was the second-best Indian on view as she carded her week’s best card of 69 to share the fifth spot. Gaurika Bishnoi became the third Indian in the top-10 following a 71 for the ninth spot.

Vani Kapoor, after two days of staying in the top-three, had another free fall as she carded a 78 and shared the 16th spot with Amandeep Drall and two others.