Paris: Indian golfers Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar were at tied-14th in the 60-player field after two rounds at the Paris Olympics women’ golf competition here on Thursday.
Aditi played 1-under 71 after a first round 72 and Diksha was even at 72 after a first round 71. At 1-under each for 36 holes, the Indian duo was Tied-14 in the 60-player field, which has no cut.
Aditi had four birdies, all in succession from the sixth to the ninth against bogeys on the third, fifth and 12th. Diksha was 2-under with birdies on the Par-5 third and Par-3 11th and stayed 2-under till she came to the 18th, where she messed a third shot with a wedge and ended with a double.
Swiss star Morgane Metraux set the course alight with an 8-under 28 front nine with two eagles and four birdies. The back nine, in contrast, had three bogeys and one birdie in a round of 66 that put her on top at 8-under after being 10-under at one stage with four holes left. She bogeyed the 15th and the 18th.
Kiwi Lydia Ko, attempting to become the first player to win medals in three successive Olympic Games since it returned to the programme in 2016, put herself right behind the top two.
Lydia added 67 to her 72 to be 5-under and two behind Yin bogey free Yin Ruoning (72-65) and three behind Metraux.
Aditi is convinced there is a low round lurking around on the final two days while Diksha Dagar planned to attack even more in the next two rounds.
Aditi said the course was gettable and a low round is possible.
“It is (to get low rounds). I think today I saw the scores, some players have shot really low rounds (Morgane Metraux had a 8-under 28 for front nine with two eagles). So I know there's a low round out there," she said.
"I just have to go out there and shoot it. Usually third day is moving day, so just going with that mindset.” On her second day, she said, “Those four birdies put me back in a good frame of mind, but obviously would have like to be more under par than 1-under. It was a nice run from sixth to ninth and it had a big putt, too. (About 40 feet).
"I think the wind picked up and birdies were tough to come by (on the back nine). I only had two looks, the par-5s, the 14 and the 18. Those were the ones where I had close looks and I missed a 6-footer on 14.” She also missed a short putt for par on the 12th. She felt that the back nine was tougher.
"I think it's tricky. I think the finishing holes are tricky. Of course it's one of the greatest courses; we know that. Just these finishing holes, you get the par 5 and after that, unless you hit a good shot, you can almost drop a shot. Overall, the back nine is a bit harder.”
Diksha, inspired by Scottie Scheffler’s final round of 9-under 63 in the men’s competition, said she was going to be aggressive and take her chances.
“Like Scottie on the final day to clinch a medal, he played 9-under. So I have to be like him. Scottie played very amazing. Yes, I saw him. On final day, the pin position was very tough, and his striking was good and his putting, he made lots of birdies on that day.”
Diksha said she was happy with her father, Col Narendar Dagar, as her caddie.
On her second round, she said, “Today my hitting has let me down a bit. But today my putter was my friend and I made lots of putts. I was going very good and until the 17th hole, but 18th hole came in the way again.
"I have dropped three shots on that hole in two days. Today I went into the water. My dad advised me to play aggressive. Yes. But sometimes you take a bad decision. It's okay.”
As for the next two days, she added, “I'm not going to give up. I'm going to play aggressive for the medal because it is a very rare opportunity. I'm not going to play defensive or normal. I have to be aggressive and take a chance.”