Port Louis (Mauritius), May 1 (PTI) Buoyed by a hole-in-one Diksha Dagar was off to a flying start with a 4-under 68 in the opening round of the inaugural MCB Ladies Classic – Mauritius — here on Friday.
Diksha holed out for the ace on the Par-3 11th and was lying tied-fourth.
Among the other Indians, Tvesa Malik also got off to a good start with 2-under 70 and was tied-20th while Hitaashee Bakshi (71) was tied-30th and Vani Kapoor (78) was T-108 and left needing a very low second round to make the 36-hole cut.
The field was led by French golfer Agathe Laisné who opened with an excellent round of 8-under 64 on the Legend Course.
Laisne, the Ladies European Tour (LET) Order of Merit leader, continued her rich vein of form rolling in 10 birdies during her opening round in Mauritius.
Diksha starting from the tenth began with a par before holing out on the Par-3 11th.
The two additional birdies on the 15th and the 18th saw her turn in 4-under. On her second nine, the front side of the course, she bogeyed the fifth but picked a birdie on ninth, her closing hole.
Tvesa, who is trying to get back her card and have a shot at the Hero Indian Open later this year, birdied the second, seventh and the eighth to be 3-under.
A double bogey on the ninth pulled her back. On the back nine, she bogeyed the 12th, but birdied the 15th and the 17th for a 70.
Laisne, who has won twice on the LET in 2026, began with back-to-back birdies at 10 and 11 before making three on the trot on holes 13 to 15, but dropped her first shot of the day on 16.
However, she bounced back with a birdie on 17 and rolled in another on the second, before a second bogey on the fifth.
The Frenchwoman finished strongly with three birdies in her closing four holes to set a course record and sit at the top of the leaderboard.
South Africa’s Cara Gorlei is in solo second place after firing a round of 65 (-7) which included two eagles on day one.
The 30-year-old had two eagles, six birdies and three bogeys on her scorecard to be one shot behind Laisné after 18 holes.
Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soenderby is in outright third place one shot further back after her round of 66 (-6).
Ten players are in a share of fourth place on four-under-par including India’s Diksha Dagar who made an ace on the 11th hole. PTI Corr UNG
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.