Indian trio secures top-5 finishes as Diksha, Avani miss Dutch Ladies Open title by a stroke

Eemnes, Netherlands: Indian women golfers celebrated one of their finest collective performances on the Ladies European Tour (LET) this season as Diksha Dagar, Avani Prashanth and Pranavi Urs all secured top-five finishes at the Dutch Ladies Open. Diksha and Avani came within a single shot of joining the playoff for the title.

Diksha and Avani shared third place on eight-under-par, while Pranavi finished tied fifth at seven-under, capping a memorable week for Indian women's golf in the Netherlands.

It was Diksha's fourth top-10 finish of the season, Avani's second successive top-five result and Pranavi's first top-five finish of 2026, underlining the growing consistency of the Indian challenge on the LET.

Both Diksha and Avani had genuine chances of forcing their way into the playoff on a dramatic final day.

Avani, who produced one of the best rounds of Sunday, carded a five-under 67 featuring six birdies to surge into contention. She reached nine-under through 17 holes after Thailand's Aunchisa Utama had posted the clubhouse lead, but a bogey on the closing hole denied the 19-year-old a place in the playoff and dropped her back to eight-under.

Playing in the penultimate group, Diksha also threatened to gate-crash the title battle. A birdie on the 17th lifted her to eight-under, leaving her needing another gain on the par-five last to reach nine-under. However, she could only make par, leaving both Indians tied for third, just one stroke behind the eventual finalists.

Despite the disappointment of narrowly missing the playoff, Avani took plenty of positives from another excellent week.

"I'm obviously very happy with how the day went, but the last hole, I guess that's just sport. I played solid out there start to finish. Every part of my game really did well, so I'm happy," she said.

The Bengaluru golfer added that returning to full fitness after her back problems had transformed her game, while successive top-five finishes had given her renewed confidence.

Diksha, meanwhile, continued her impressive run of consistency with rounds of 68, 70 and 69. The Hero Women's Indian Open champion has quietly established herself among the LET's most dependable performers this season, and another podium finish strengthened her growing reputation.

Pranavi Urs also enjoyed an outstanding finish to the tournament. After opening with a 73, she recovered superbly with rounds of 69 and 67 over the weekend to climb into a share of fifth, ensuring India had three players inside the top five in the same LET event.

While the Indian trio dominated much of the attention, Thailand's Aunchisa Utama emerged as the champion after a thrilling finish. Starting the final day tied for 15th, Utama fired a flawless six-under 66 to set the clubhouse target at nine-under before defeating Norway's Dorthea Forbrigd with a birdie on the first playoff hole to claim her maiden Ladies European Tour title.

Utama carded six birdies without dropping a shot and later revealed that changes to her putting over the previous fortnight had proved decisive. Her victory also continued Thailand's strong record in the tournament following Trichat Cheenglab's success in 2023.

Forbrigd finished runner-up after narrowly missing her birdie chance in the playoff, while Pranavi shared fifth place with Wales' Chloe Williams, American Annika Borrelli, Australia's Justice Bosio and Kirsten Rudgeley, England's Hannah Screen, Nigeria's Georgia Iziemgbe Oboh and Spain's Harang Lee.

The LET now heads to Czechia for this week's Czech Ladies Open, where the Indian contingent will look to carry forward the momentum from an outstanding performance that showcased the growing depth and quality of Indian women's golf on the European circuit.

Tags : Diksha Dagar, Avani Prashanth, Pranavi Urs, Ladies European Tour, Golf