Diksha Dagar

Diksha Dagar (born 14 December 2000) is an Indian female professional golfer.[1] She has competed in several amateur golf tournaments despite her deafness. She became no 1 amateur ladies golfer in India from November 2015.[2] Diksha Dagar represented India at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics where golf was included in the Summer Deaflympics for the very first time and competed in the women's individual golf event securing a silver medal.[3] Diksha also qualified to represent India at the 2018 Asian Games.[4][5] She is also considered as one of the emerging amateur golfers in India.[6] In 2019, she became only the second Indian female golfer after Aditi Ashok to win the Ladies European Tour and became the youngest Indian woman to do so at the age of 18.[7][8][9]

Diksha Dagar
Personal information
Born (2000-12-14) 14 December 2000
Chappar, Jhajjar, Haryana, India
Nationality India
Career
Turned professional2019
Current tour(s)Ladies European Tour
Professional wins2
Number of wins by tour
Ladies European Tour1
Other1
Best results in LPGA major championships
ANA InspirationDNP
Women's PGA C'shipDNP
U.S. Women's OpenDNP
Women's British OpenCUT: 2019, 2020
Evian ChampionshipCUT: 2019

Early life

Diksha was born on 14 December 2000 with hearing problems and started to wear hearing aids since the age of six.[10]

She started playing golf since the age of seven, along with her brother Yogesh Dagar, who was also profoundly deaf. She was coached by her father Narinder Dagar, a former scratch golfer who also serves as an army personnel.[11]

Amateur career

She started playing golf as a left-hander in the amateur level in 2012 and noted for her clean long striking during her early career. In November 2015, she was the low amateur at the Hero Women's Indian Open on the Ladies European Tour. She has won several amateur golf professional tournaments since entering into amateur circuit in 2012.[12] In 2016, she became the only Indian golfer to be ranked within top 500 in the world rankings for U18 category.[13]

In 2017, she won her maiden professional event at the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour. In March 2018, she won the Singapore Ladies Amateur Open. Diksha Dagar also registered the best score by an Indian at the Thailand's Queen Sirikit Cup history when she achieved it in June 2018 with a score of three under 69 and helped the Indian team to finish sixth in the women's team event.[14] She also totalled four-under over the three days, the lowest any Indian had gone in the Queen Sirikit Cup history.[15]

Diksha was one of the medal winners as a part of the Indian delegation at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics, where she clinched a silver medal in the women's individual golf event and also became the first Indian to claim a Deaflympic medal in the sport of golf.[16][17]

In April 2018, she was approved to take part in the 2018 Asian Games along with six other golfers who were named in the Indian squad and competed in both women's individual and team event as a part of the golf competition.[18][19][20]

Professional career

Dagar turned professional in early 2019.[7] In March 2019, she emerged as winner of the 2019 Investec South African Women's Open, a tournament on the 2019 Ladies European Tour.[21][22] This was her first win as a professional, becoming India's youngest woman to clinch a Ladies European Tour title at the age of 18. She defeated South Africa's three-time champion, Lee-Anne Pace, by one shot.[23][24][25][8] She became the first Indian to clinch the South African Women's Open title and second Indian female overall to claim the Ladies European Tour Title.[7]

Amateur wins

  • 2015 Eastern India Ladies & Junior Girls - Faldo Series India
  • 2016 Chandigarh Ladies & Junior Girls Championship, Faldo Series India Championship, Western India Ladies & Girls Championship, Eastern India Ladies & Junior Girls
  • 2017 Telangana Ladies & Junior Girls Championship, Northern India Ladies & Girls, Western India Ladies & Girls Championship
  • 2018 Singapore Ladies Amateur Open Championship

Source: [2]

Professional wins (2)

Ladies European Tour wins (1)

Other wins (1)

  • 2017 Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour Leg 16

Source: [2]

Team appearances

Source: [2]

References

  1. "Diksha Dagar". www.deaflympics.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  2. "Diksha Dagar". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  3. "Indian amateur golfer Diksha Dagar credits dad for her silver win at Deaflympics". Hindustan Times. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  4. Bhattacharya, Arka (12 August 2018). "Go to US college or turn pro: India's No. 1 amateur golfer Diksha Dagar ponders life beyond Asiad". Scroll.in. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  5. "India at Asian Games 2018: Full squad". India Today. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  6. Bhaduri, Tushar (13 August 2018). "Diksha Dagar, 17, overcomes disability to pursue golf". The Indian Express. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  7. "Teenaged Diksha Dagar creates history, wins South African Women's Open". The Times of India. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  8. Krishnaswamy, V. (17 March 2019). "Diksha Dagar becomes youngest Indian woman to win on Ladies European Tour". The Hindu Business Line. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  9. Selvaraj, Jonathan (17 March 2019). "The right clubs changed everything for left-handed Diksha Dagar". ESPN. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  10. "Dagar Diksha". Asian Games 2018 Jakarta Palembang. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  11. "महिला गोल्फर दीक्षा ने कहा- पिता को जाता है मेरी सफलता का श्रेय". Zee News Hindi (in Hindi). 12 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  12. "Diksha Dagar leading amateur in India". Ladies European Tour. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  13. "Diksha Dagar takes the quiet fairway in quest of sporting dream". Hindustan Times. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  14. Datla, Anand (14 May 2018). "Diksha Dagar does well in Queen Sirikit Cup". Golfing Indian. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  15. Kohli, Sharad (13 May 2018). "Haryana girl Diksha Dagar notches up best score by an Indian at Thailand's Queen Sirikit Cup". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  16. "Meet the Athletes Who Won 5 Medals at the Summer Deaflympics in Turkey, Making India Proud". The Better India. 4 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  17. "Deaflympics 2017: India bag gold, silver and two bronze medals in Turkey". Scroll.in. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  18. "Seven young Indian golfers qualify for Asian Games". The Times of India. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  19. "Strong and young Indian team for golf in 2018 Asian Games". Hindustan Times. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  20. Kohli, Sharad (8 August 2018). "Diksha tees up for Asiad after back-to-back wins". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  21. "Diksha Dagar Lands Maiden LET Title in Cape Town". Ladies European Tour. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  22. Stander, Lali (17 March 2019). "Diksha drives to victory in Investec SA Women's Open". The Leader Newspaper. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  23. Jackson, Keith (16 March 2019). "Diksha Dagar wins South African crown". Sky Sports. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  24. "Meet Diksha Dagar, a hearing-impaired golfer who won her first professional title at 18". Scroll.in. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  25. "Diksha Dagar wins South African Women's Open". ESPN. 16 March 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
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