Golf: Diksha, Gandas make second cut, aim for top-10 finish at World Invitational tournament

Diksha Dagar stayed focussed to compile a steady even par round of 72 but slipped to tied-11th place after the third day

Galgorm: Diksha Dagar stayed focussed to compile a steady even par round of 72 but slipped to tied-11th place after the third day of the ISPS HANDA World Invitational tournament on Sunday.

However, Diksha made the second cut as the third round cut fell at 4-over with 38 players making it through to the final day.

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In the men’s segment of the tournament, Manu Gandas was tied-10th after a round of 70 on the third day and he also made the third round cut which fell at 2-over.

Among the women, Gabriella Cowley fired a round of 67 (-5) to hold a one-shot lead while Dan Brown retained his six-stroke lead among men.

Diksha, coming off a T-21 finish in the AIG Women’s Open, had two birdies on the first and the ninth holes of the front nine after which she seemed set to be comfortably in the Top-10.

Then she dropped bogeys on the 10th and 16th hole to drop back to even and slipped just out of the Top-10.

This week’s innovative event is tri-sanctioned by the DP World Tour, LPGA and Ladies European Tour, with men’s and women’s tournaments being played on the same courses at the same time for two equal prize funds of US$1.5million.
In the men’s section, Gandas, after a birdie on the second, had four bogeys in the next seven holes.

However, he recovered well for three birdies and no bogeys on the back nine to finish at even par. He was still in the top-10.

Cowley began the day two shots behind the leader and got off to a good start with birdies on the second, fourth and eighth holes.

Cowley dropped a shot on the 10th but rolled in back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 and made another on 14.

She had another bogey on the 15th but made a birdie on 17 to seal a round of 67 and move to the top of the leaderboard on six-under-par.

American Ryann O’Toole and Germany’s Esther Henseleit sit on a share of second place on five-under-par.

Switzerland’s Kim Metraux sits in solo fourth place on four-under-par after producing a round of 69 (-3).

In the men’s competition, England’s Brown maintained his six-shot advantage and leads with a total of 14-under-par ahead of compatriot Alex Fitzpatrick and South Africa’s Wilco Nienaber.

The Englishman produced an incredible display of scoring over the first two days to open a six-stroke advantage at the halfway stage and he managed to keep that buffer on day three, courtesy of a three under par 67 to reach 14 under.