Pranavi rises to tied fifth, Diksha is Tied-14th in Australia

Magenta Shores (Australia), Mar 7 (PTI) Pranavi Urs (70) dropped a double bogey near the end on the 17th hole but managed to stay in the top-5 after three rounds of the Australian Women’s Classic.

Pranavi with 72-66-70 was 8-under and tied fifth, as Kelsey Bennett took a one-shot lead into the final round of the Australian Women’s Classic after carding 66-68-70 to move to 12-under par and maintain her slender advantage.

Diksha Dagar (69) recovered from her second round 73 to get to 5-under and was Tied-14th with one round to go.

The other two Indians, Avani Prashanth and Hitaashee Bakshi had missed the cut.

Pranavi birdied the second but dropped shots on the fourth and the fifth. She recovered from that with birdies on the eighth and the ninth and turned in 1-under. On the back nine she was doing great with birdies on the 11th, 13th and the 15th before she hit a double bogey on the 17th.

Diksha bogeyed the fifth and the sixth and was in trouble but she rallied strongly with birdies on the eighth and the ninth. Three more birdies on the back nine took her to 3-under for the round and 5-under total.

Playing alongside Thailand's Trichat Cheenglab and England’s Meghan MacLaren at Magenta Shores, Bennett got off to an excellent start with a birdie on the par-5 first and maintained the tempo.

Bennett is eyeing a maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) win in her home state after finishing T8 at last week's Ford Women’s NSW Open. She also finished T12 at the season-opening PIF Saudi Ladies International in Riyadh.

MacLaren meanwhile sits on the brink of a stunning fourth victory Down Under having won this tournament back in 2022 alongside two Ford Women’s NSW Opens in 2018 and 2019.

Another Englishwoman, three-time LET winner Alice Hewson, holds solo fourth position on nine-under par. Cheenglab and India's Pranavi share fifth spot. PTI Corr APS APS APS