Royal Lytham & St Annes (UK), Aug 1 (PTI) India’s challenge at the 2026 AIG Women’s Open came to an early end as both Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok narrowly missed the cut after difficult second rounds at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Diksha, who had raised hopes with an excellent 2-under 69 in the opening round, endured a dramatic reversal on Friday. The two-time Ladies European Tour winner, Diksha, who is supported by Hero, carded a 7-over 78, slipping to 5-over 147 for the tournament and missing the cut by one stroke after the qualifying mark was set at 4-over.
Aditi Ashok also finished one shot outside the cut line. After an opening 74, she battled hard before signing for a 73 to also end at 5-over 147, leaving both Indian golfers out of the year’s final women’s Major.
Diksha’s round unravelled on the inward nine. After staying in contention through the front side, she dropped five shots over her last nine holes to erase the advantage gained with her superb opening round. She finished the day with one birdie and eight bogeys.
Aditi’s challenge also faded late in the round. She was well placed to make the weekend before three bogeys on the back nine proved costly. Her lone birdie of the day was not enough to offset the late mistakes as she finished with a 2-over 73.
The cut came at 4-over with 68 players advancing to the weekend, leaving both Indians to rue missed opportunities during the closing stretch of their rounds.
At the top of the leaderboard, South Korea’s Haeran Ryu maintained her impressive run in the Majors, taking a one-shot lead into the weekend at 7-under par.
Ryu followed her opening 66 with a 2-under 69 despite an eventful start that included a bogey at the third and a double bogey at the fifth. The Korean responded in champion’s fashion, birdieing the seventh, ninth and 10th holes before adding further gains at the 15th and 18th to stay in front.
Already a winner of the year’s first two Major championships, Ryu continued to underline her dominance with another composed performance under testing conditions.
Japan’s Shiho Kuwaki occupied second place at 6-under after a 1-under 70 that featured four birdies and three bogeys.
Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, the overnight leader, slipped into a share of third after a 73. She was joined at 5-under by American Yealimi Noh, who recovered from an early double bogey with four birdies in an encouraging round of 70.
South Korea’s Soo Bin Joo stood alone in fifth place at 3-under following a 69.
A group of eight players shared sixth place at 2-under, including English favourites Charley Hull and Lottie Woad, along with Spanish amateur Paula Martin Sampedro. Hull produced one of the highlights of the day by holing out from a bunker at the 17th during her level-par round.
For the Indian contingent, however, the championship ended in disappointment, with both Diksha and Aditi falling just one shot short of extending their campaigns into the weekend. PTI Cor AH AH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.