The Asian Games medals have barely settled at home, and two of the players who won them are back on Indian soil for the Hero Women’s Indian Open. Diksha Dagar, the highest-ranked Indian on the Ladies European Tour, tees off this week with a bigger audience than Indian women’s golf has ever had. Diksha Dagar, part of the silver-medal-winning team, and Pranavi, who took the individual gold with her, are in the field for a tournament with a USD 500,000 prize purse and a place on the Ladies European Tour schedule.
The team silver and Pranavi’s individual gold came out of a long friendship between the two players, built on years of travelling together and competing against each other. Dagar does not hide the rivalry. Dagar arrives in form. Five Indian women have been regulars on the tour this year, and Dagar, who already has three wins on the circuit, has led the group. She sees consistency as her strength and her hunger as the reason for it. “I really wanted to win the tournament. Her immediate goal is clear, and she kept the answer short. “Win the tournament. Beyond that sits the bigger ambition: “Obtain a membership on the LPGA. She places the credit with her family.
Because it’s my dream that I wanted to be there, i have been pushing myself that. She is 18th on the Ladies European Tour Order of Merit, the best position among the Indians on tour, and she has been in the hunt for the top 10 week after week.
“It’s kind of a competition between us,” she said, and she credits that edge for how far both have gone. “It’s all thanks to my parents and the blessing,” she said. “They have been kind of like umbrella to me, like holding my hand and guiding me to the goal.”
