Áine Dongan putting. Photograph: Joe Buckley
ENNIS DUO Áine Donegan and Aideen Walsh have failed to make the cut to the final two rounds of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
Donegan who proved to be a star at the US Open in Pebble Beach at the beginning of the July fired back to back rounds of 74 on Thursday and Friday to finish on +4.
Walsh had rounds of 78 and 76 across the two days seeing her end the two days on +10.
With the cut falling at +1, only seventy players made it through to the final two days of competition at the Newmarket-on-Fergus venue.
Home favourite Leona Maguire (-4) was among those to make the cut as did Irish amateurs Kate Lanigan (-3), Sara Byrne (-2), Emma Fleming (+1) and Beth Coulter (+1).
Big crowds followed the exploits of Donegan and Walsh with Áine forming part of the grouping with Maguire and last year’s winner Klara Spilkova.
Leading the way by one shot is Diksha Dagar who fired a round of 69 (-3). She held the overnight lead but didn’t get off to the best start with a bogey on the first at Dromoland Castle.
However, she soon found a rhythm rolling in back-to-back birdies on five and six before another dropped shot on 14. The two-time LET winner finished in style with three birdies in her final four holes for a round of three-under-par and to sit at the top of the leaderboard with a total of 10-under-par.
“Today, I struggled a little bit because I played very well yesterday,” said Dagar. “I handled it very well today and finished with a respectable score of three-under. On the 17th hole I had a long birdie putt, I thought wow yes because I was feeling a little bad on 16 as I missed a birdie putt. I was making a target that I should finish on a respectable score of two or three-under. After making a birdie on 17, I had a fist pump and it made me feel confident and I attacked the flag on 18 and I had a very good putt left. The weekend is going to be a very good experience, I’m getting used to it and I’m going to feel good and stay focused”.
Three players sit in a tie for second place with Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands, American Gurleen Kaur and France’s Emma Grechi all on nine-under-par.
It was an excellent round of 66 (-6) on the second day for five-time LET winner Van Dam as she had one bogey and seven birdies on her scorecard. “It was really good, I have been playing really solid,” said the Dutch professional. “I haven’t missed many shots which is always nice, I’m putting it nicely so overall I feel pretty good about everything. My driver shaft cracked on the flight on the way out here, but Callaway managed to get it here right before my tee time. It’s always tricky putting in a new shaft but today I was hitting it really well. I’m super thankful because a driver on this course is a big favour, I can carry a lot of the bunkers and be more aggressive on the par-fives. I’m very pleased. It also has a new grip on it, so that feels a bit nicer”.
LET rookie Kaur shot a 66 on the opening day and followed that up with a 69 (-3) on day two in Ireland. The American made a bogey on the fourth but bounced back with a birdie on the fifth before another dropped shot on the eighth. However, a hole-out eagle on the ninth saw Kaur regain momentum and she rolled in birdies on 11 and 17 to have a total of nine-under-par.
France’s Grechi also backed up her opening round of six-under with a round of three-under which included three bogeys and six birdies. Fellow French woman, Anne-Lise Caudal sits in outright fifth place on eight-under-par after back-to-back rounds of 68.
Four players sit in a tie for sixth place with Spain’s Elena Hualde, Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson and English duo Meghan MacLaren and Alice Hewson all on seven-under-par.
Hualde, who is in her second year on Tour, fired the joint-best round of the day – alongside England’s Liz Young – carding a bogey-free 65 (-7) to climb up the leaderboard.
Pettersson, who won the Helsingborg Open earlier in the season, had a phenomenal front nine rolling in six birdies and made two bogeys on her back nine for her round of 68 (-4).
Three players ended the day in a share of tenth place with Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soenderby, Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley all on six-under-par.
