Indian Golfers Diksha, Aditi Shine at Paris Olympics Women's Golf

India's Diksha Dagar scored 1-under 71, placing her tied seventh, while Aditi Ashok was tied 13th after an even par round with two holes left in the women's golf competition at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday. Diksha missed her regular caddie, her father Col. Narender Dagar, who was torn between supporting his recovering wife and carrying Diksha's bag.

Challenges Faced by Diksha

Diksha ended with a bogey-bogey finish after being 3-under. She said, "I started very good. I stayed in the fairway. I found a lot of fairways today. The greens were very good, and when I had a birdie putt chance I made some putts." She added, "I was going very well on the 16th hole; unfortunately, on the last hole I dropped two shots. But I'm okay with 17."

Aditi, who captured hearts with her fourth-place finish in Tokyo, ended with a double bogey during her even par round. Playing her third Olympics, she was 2-under when she reached the 18th hole but finished at 72 after a double bogey. Only 12 players were under-par.

Performance of Other Players

Local star Celine Boutier led with a score of 7-under 65, featuring eight birdies and one bogey. She was three strokes ahead of Ashleigh Buhai from South Africa. Four players were tied for third at 2-under each. Reigning champion Nelly Korda recovered from a poor start to finish even par, seven strokes behind Boutier.

Diksha admitted missing her father, who is usually her caddie. "My dad was not on the bag. Unfortunately, my dad was supposed to caddie for me but his card was cancelled so he couldn't be here on time. There was some confusion. But it's all right," she explained.

Impact of Caddie Change

The confusion arose when Col. Dagar initially decided to stay home with his recovering wife but later changed his mind about caddying for Diksha. However, due to the card cancellation, he couldn't carry the bag last minute. Sundeep Verma from the Indian Golf Union stepped in as her caddie.

Diksha shared that Verma was caddying for her for the first time and mentioned, "My father knows more about my club selection and Chimmy Sir Sundeep Verma was caddying for me for the first time. Anyways, it is ok."

Reflecting on her performance, Diksha said, "This golf course is challenging, and it's very narrow and you have to find the fairways and the greens as well. The rough is very thick." She added about an incident: "Maybe you can say it was part of my Olympic experience. It was a terrible accident but by God's grace we are safe."

Aditi summarised her round by saying she managed a tough day well despite challenging conditions. "I think it was a good day for me. It was tough initially with the wind and it's tough to judge the yardages and manage the wind too," she said.

On her below-par effort on the 18th hole, Aditi commented: "I hit a bad drive. I hit a bad second shot. I hit a bad third shot. But I think I was just, you know, on the tee, I was trying to hit a good drive because I knew it was reachable."

Despite challenges and changes in their support teams, both golfers showed resilience and determination in their performances at Le Golf National during the Paris Olympics.