Diksha finishes tied 29th as Hull wins title

Riyadh, Nov 3 (PTI) India's Diksha Dagar and Pranavi Urs faced contrasting fortunes even as Charley Hull produced a superb performance at Aramco Team Series to fire a final round 66 (-6) and win by three shots on 18-under par here on Sunday.

Diksha shot her best round of the week with a 3-under 69 to jump up to tied 29th at the end of the tournament, while Pranavi (76) slipped to T-44th.

Diksha had four birdies against one bogey, while Pranavi had one birdie against five bogeys.

Charley Hull who was trailing Pia Babnik by two shots before the start of play on the final day began on an excellent note at Riyadh Golf Club, birdying five of her first seven holes to go out in 31 (-5) and lead by four.

With her opponents unable to follow suit, Hull cruised to victory on the back-nine by carding three more birdies and dropping two shots to complete a three-shot victory. Behind Hull in the second place was Dane Nicole Broch Estrup (67).

Chiara Tamburlini, who missed the cut last week at Hero Women's Indian Open, clinched the season-long standings on Saturday after finishing T-7 to increase her tally to 2,718.44 points. She becomes the first Swiss player in history to win the Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year honours.

After a sensational display Hull jumped to third in the 2024 LET Order of Merit.

Next up for the LET is the season finale at the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open de Espana presented by OYSHO. Play gets underway on November 28 in Malaga, Spain.

Babnik ended the day in in solo third on 14-under par thanks to another excellent week. Dutch star Anne van Dam produced a huge performance firing a 69 (-3) to finish in a tie for fourth and jump 24 places in the Order of Merit to 63rd. The result helps secure her card for 2025.

Germany's Helen Briem continued her phenomenal 2024, finishing fifth alongside Van Dam and Spain's Fernandez Cano on 10-under par. Tamburlini and Wales' Lydia Hall finished in a tie for seventh on nine-under par.

The triumph is Hull's first since October 2022 but that was on the LPGA Tour. This is her fourth on the Ladies European Tour (LET), and second at the Aramco Team Series (her last coming in 2021 in New York).

Since her last win in Texas, Hull recorded eight runner-up finishes across both Tours. PTI Cor AH AH