Pranavi made a good start and finished fifth

Tampa: Pranavi Urs and Diksha Dagar got off to a good start on the first day of the Aramco Team Series event in Tampa, Florida. Pranavi, who was T-5 in her previous start in Morocco, shot 5-under 67 and finished joint 5th as four players shared the lead. Pranavi was one shot behind the four leaders, Chloe Williams of Wales, Kim Metroux of Switzerland, defending individual champion Carlota Ciganda of Spain and American Marina Alex. The four leaders shot 6-under 66.

Diksha Dagar, who finished third on the LET Order of Merit last season, shot 3-under 69 and finished T-16, but just three shots behind the group of leaders.

Bengaluru’s Pranavi Urs, playing in her first season at the Ladies European, made seven birdies against one double bogey, while Deeksha made five birdies against one double bogey. Deeksha started with a double bogey and followed it up with five birdies to finish 3rd. Made it to under-under and T-16, but remained only three birdies behind the leaders.

Team Law, which also included India’s Pranavi along with Bronte Law, former AIG Women’s Open winner Sofia Popov and amateur Jim Boddy, also put themselves in line for a team victory. She shared the lead in the team standings with defending champion Team Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, with Celine Hebron, Meghan MacLaren and amateur Lujain Omar Khalil as teammates. Both teams scored 18-under-par. The team event will end on the second day.

If Pranavi and her team win, she will become the second Indian after Diksha to do so. Diksha was part of the team that won the Aramco Series London two years ago.

Pranavi, winner of the Hero Order of Merit with five wins on her home tour in 2022, parred her first three holes before making five consecutive birdies, starting from the tenth, to move to 5-under 31. A sixth birdie on the first and yet another on the fourth moved him to 7-under and into sole lead. Then there was disappointment with a double bogey on the 15th hole of the day i.e. the sixth hole. She finished at 5-under and one behind the leaders.

Pranavi said: “It definitely feels great to get off to a strong start and I feel like I have been doing that often for the last four rounds, but I just couldn’t finish it.

“Five-under wasn’t bad and I’ll take it. I was very good off the tee today and it put me in good position to get good approaches, except one that led to double, but other than that I’ve been hitting It’s nice and the installation has been nice.”

Diksha said, “I started with a double bogey and then I got a bad bounce and I went into the bunker. I couldn’t get on the green. Then I four-putted. I didn’t think much about it. I stayed calm and Concentrated on every shot. I got a lot of good speed then, and I had to fight for it. It was a good recovery and it went very well. Three under par, but the weather forecast for tomorrow is rain.” ( ANI)