SIUNTIO: A week after winning her second Ladies European Tour title, it was not the best of starts for Indian golfer Diksha Dagar as she was tied 90th after a storm-hit opening day here on Friday.
Diksha's fellow Indian golfers had decent starts at the Ladies Open by Pickala Rock Resort.
The day's proceedings were hindered by not one but two storm delays and it took a toll on many players.
Diksha, who had 13 birdies and an eagle last week, had no birdies in her round of 74 and will need a solid second round to make the cut.
Pranavi Urs, playing on a sponsor's exemption, shot even par 72 and was T-55, as was Vani Kapoor. Amandeep Drall and Ridhima Dilawari (73) were T-78th while Tvesa Malik and Diksha, with 74 each, were T-90.
But with the scoreboard rather tight, a good round could see the Indians make the cut.
Pranavi had two birdies against two bogeys. Ridhima Dilawari had as many as five birdies, but also gave away three bogeys and a double bogey.
Carmen Alonso of Spain stormed into an early lead after firing a magnificent 64 (-8). She capitalised on her late start and missed the storm delays to fire birdies and one eagle to lead the field.
One back from Alonso is Austrian Christine Wolf, who after her first and only win on the LET in Hero Indian Open some years back, is still looking for her second win.
Starting on the back-nine, the one-time LET winner posted birdies on the 12th, 13th, and 17th before play came to a halt following an electrical storm. After a three hour delay, Wolf kept her composure to birdie the third, fifth and seventh holes before setting up another on the ninth following a fine approach.
Hot on Wolf's heels in T3 on six-under-par 66 were Finland's Linda Osala and Sweden's Johanna Gustavsson.
