Gurugram: The final time an Indian gained the Hero Ladies’s Indian Open (HWIO) was again in 2016 when an 18-year-old Aditi Ashok, recent from her maiden Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, held off America’s two-time main champion Brittany Lincicome to prevail by a stroke.
India golfer Diksha Dagar practices forward of the Hero Ladies’s Indian Open golf event beginning on Thursday on the DLF Golf and Nation Membership in Gurugram. (LET)
The win marked a seminal second within the historical past of ladies’s golf in India for it was the primary event of an Indian successful a Women European Tour (LET) occasion.
Whereas Aditi gained’t be in motion when the sixteenth iteration of the event tees off on the DLF Golf and Nation Membership right here on Thursday — she is competing on the PGA Tour — a bunch of Indian women might be hoping to finish the seven-year look forward to a house winner. Main the Indian problem would be the skilled Diksha Dagar, an in-form Tvesa Malik, and the up-and-coming teenager Hitaashee Bakshi.
Dagar, by advantage of her pedigree and a really creditable third-place end right here final season, will bear house hopes. The 23-year-old is the one Indian in addition to Aditi to win on the European Tour — she has two wins to her identify — however is battling detached type. “It’s high time we have an Indian winner here,” the two-time Olympian mentioned.
“I am excited to be back here. Every year when I play here it brings back wonderful memories. It would mean a lot to win. It is on my bucket list. I have wanted to win this for long,” she added.
Tvesa Malik, who recorded her maiden win on the Sunshine Women Tour earlier this 12 months — a three-stroke triumph on the SuperSport Women Problem — in addition to ending second on the VP Financial institution Swiss Women Open the place she misplaced to England’s Alice Hewson in a playoff might be one other Indian to be careful for.
“I think it is definitely an advantage to have played here before,” mentioned Malik. “The more you see the golf course, you understand where it’s okay to miss. And I think it can be visually very daunting when you come here for the first time to play. I think we have that advantage. It’s definitely playing firmer and faster this year and I think that would be a challenge.”
Apart from the financial impetus, a win right here has the potential to unlock unexplored pathways for Indian golfers. Aditi’s profession famously took off after her HWIO win. Two weeks after successful at house, she pocketed the Qatar Women Open, completed the season second on the Order of Benefit and gained the Rookie of the 12 months award. She additionally earned the LPGA Tour card for 2017 by way of the LPGA Closing Qualifying Event earlier than coming agonisingly near a medal on the Tokyo Olympics and successful a silver on the Hangzhou Asian Video games.
“It’s an amazingly inspiring trajectory,” famous Bakshi, the reigning OOM topper within the home WGAI tour. Bakshi holds the season’s card for the Thailand PGA and has LET Q Faculty, and later USPGA, on her radar. “Like Aditi, I also wish to play the PGA and go to the Olympics. My ultimate dream is to win an Olympic gold. I hope the journey begins here. I would like to finish as the best Indian, though a win would be great,” the 19-year-old added.
With 27 house gamers, India can have a great illustration within the 114-strong discipline. Pranavi Urs and Vani Kapoor have a great document on their house course too whereas Amandeep Drall, who was joint second two years in the past, might be hoping to ship the products.
Touted as one of the vital aggressive fields ever assembled right here, the competitors boasts of the present LET Order of Benefit chief Chiara Tamburlini in addition to Belgium’s Manon De Roey, positioned second in LET’s OOM. Although defending champion Aline Krauter, having graduated to LPGA, will not be right here, three previous winners — Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall (2011), Frenchwoman Camille Chevalier (2017), and Austria’s Christine Wolf (2019) — will line up on Thursday.
The largest problem, no doubt, might be taming the course. With most gamers hitting the placing greens quickly after the Professional-Am, it’s clear that an correct brief sport might be greater than useful on the quick and agency course.
“It is, of course, a tough course. The Bermuda grass is playing quite fast,” Tamburlini famous.
“You really have to place the ball in the right places. It happened to me a couple of times today where I was in the wrong spot. You need to place the ball well off the tee as well. It tests every single club in your bag.”