Women's Golf Association of India

Diksha set to tee off at the Epson Tour in the United States

Longwood, Florida, March 12: Diksha Dagar, coming off a pair of Top-10 finishes on the Ladies European Tour, has decided to stay on in the United States for some exposure on the Epson Tour, the second rung of competition in the US below the LPGA.

Diksha, who was tied eighth in Tampa, Florida last week, will tee off at the IOA Golf Classic, the $G 200,000 Epson Tour event this week. “The idea is to get more exposure,” said her father, Col Narender Dagar, who is also her coach, mentor and caddie. The 54-hole event will be played at the Par-71 course in Longwood.

The IOA Golf Classic, started in 2013, will also be played in Florida, where Diksha played at the Aramco Team Series event last week. That event was part of the LET Tour. In 2023, Jenny Coleman defeated Sophie Hausmann and Dottie Ardina in a one-hole playoff.

Late last year, Diksha missed getting into the LPGA through the Q-Series, but has status on the Epson Tour, after finishing T-51 in the Q-School.

In the last two years, Diksha who has picked up two Ladies European Tour title, besides coming close to adding more, including at her home event, the Hero Women’s Indian Open, where she withing striking distance yet again last year.

In 2023, Diksha picked up 10 Top-10/ finishes including her second win at the Czech Ladies Open on the LET. She closed the year in third place on the LET, a position that should have got her a card to the LPGA. But the LPGA changed the earlier decision and the criteria was put off.

In 2024, Diksha has already got two Top-10s and a Top-20 in Kenya on the LET and is looking at another strong season and the Majors. In 2023, she finished T-21 at the AIG Women, which was the best by any Indian woman golfer in a Major.

Diksha, a gold medallist in Deaf Olympics, has also played for India at the Tokyo Summer Olympics and is on track for another shot at the Paris Olympics.