Gurugram, Oct 23
Six winners from the current season and another six from 2023 feature in the field of 114 players from 31 countries at the 2024 edition of Women's Indian Open, which gets underway at DLF Golf and Country Club here on Thursday.
Only one among the dozen has bagged more than one title - Chiara Tamburlini of Switzerland - and she could do it once again this week at the US$ 400,000 Ladies European Tour event. The goal for Tamburlini is a fourth title in 2024 and to seal the LET Order of Merit come Sunday. At 69th position, she is the highest world-ranked player in the elite field that also features 27 Indians, including five amateurs.
Meanwhile, the entire Indian contingent, barring Diksha Dagar is knocking on the doors of a maiden LET win. A win would put them in a club that only has Aditi Ashok (5 LET wins) and Diksha Dagar (2 wins) as its members. Incidentally, Aditi remained the only Indian winner at this premier women's golf tournament, when she grabbed the title back in 2016.
Though defending champion Aline Krauter is not in the field, this year will see three past winners line up on Thursday including Sweden's Caroline Hedwall (2011), Frenchwoman Camille Chevalier (2017), and Austria's Christine Wolf (2019).
Much of the attention though will be on Tamburlini, who flew into Delhi after recording her third win of the season in Taiwan two weeks ago to follow earlier victories in Joburg Ladies Open and Open de France. The 24-year-old is on the threshold of sealing this year's honours and needs only to finish ahead of second-placed Manon De Roey of Belgium to make sure of topping the rankings with two events still to go in Saudi Arabia and Spain.
In what is one of the strongest fields in the Hero Women's Indian Open for some time, there are two players from the top 100 in the world rankings in Tamburlini and France's Perrine Delacour, and nine ranked between 101 and 200.
Leading the Indian challenge will be two-time LET winner Diksha Dagar, who sits 22nd in the Order of Merit after a bright start to the season, and has underlined her determination to win her National Open. The left-hander said, "I'm excited to be back here. Every year when I play here it brings back wonderful memories. It would mean a lot to win. It is on my bucket list. It is one of my biggest goals. I have wanted to win this for long and it would be amazing to win this at my home. I would love it to happen."
Dagar is also a two-time Olympian having played at the Tokyo and Paris Summer Games. On Tuesday, she emerged winner of the Hero Shot skills challenge, underlining her determination to go for the big prize this year.
The 24-year-old Dagar was the sole third-place finisher last year and is keen to go better than that this time. She will tee off for the first two days alongside Tamburlini and De Roey while LPGA star Maria Fassi of Mexico starts with past winners Wolf and Chevalier.
Also hoping to make a mark on home soil during her notable LET debut season will be Pranavi Urs, while Tvesa Malik, Vani Kapoor and domestic Hero Women's Professional Golf Tour leader Hitaashee Bakshi make a trio of DLF players who have a solid record at their home course. Amandeep Drall, who was joint second two years ago will be hoping to find some elusive form at a venue she has dominated in the past.
Another exciting talent on her first visit to India is Sweden's Kasja Arwefjall, a two-time winner of the LET Access Series this year and the feeder tour's Order of Merit topper, who will be playing on a WGAI invitation having secured her LET playing rights for next year. "I had so many highlights in 2024. Since it was my last semester of college (in the United States), I would have to say [one highlight] was winning a conference with my team. And winning as an individual was also super fun," Arwefjall ahead of the tournament.
"I would also add playing the Augusta National Women's Amateur. Playing the last round there with my dad and coach as a caddie and then on the Access Series my two wins were super fun, too."