Rookie Dagar finishes 5th to register best finish of career in NSW Open

Indian rookie Diksha Dagar wrote a new chapter in her young career with a maiden Top-5 finish at the New South Wales Open on Sunday.

Left-hander Dagar, who won a pro event while being an amateur last year, turned pro at the start of this year and has been showing fine progress.

Dagar shot one-under 70 on the final day and ended at six-under 278. Her four rounds this week were 72, 67, 69 and 70.

Indian women's golf got another boost as Amandeep Drall recorded her best pro finish outside India with Tied-18th after carding two-under 69 in the final round.

She totalled two-under 282.

Astha Madan, the third Indian who made the cut this week, shot 73 in the final round for a total of 287 and finished T-36th -- also her best finish on Ladies European Tour.

Dagar has had a great outing in Australia in her maiden year. She was T-30 at the ALPG Qualifyign Tournament, which gave her conditional status and was then T-12 at the Ballarat Icons Pro-AM.

She missed the cut at Vic Open, was T-29 at Canberra Classic and she was third at the 18-hole Pro-AM Moss Vale Club.

Of these events, three of them -- the Vic Open, Canberra Classic and NWS Open -- are also part of the Ladies European Tour. She is now 40th on the Order of Merit and is the best Indian on LET OOM.

England's Meghan MacLaren won the Women's NSW Open presented by Worrells for the second successive year after an impressive final round of two-under-par 69 for a three-stroke victory at Queanbeyan Golf Club.

MacLaren was the only player in the field to shoot four rounds under par and finished on a total of 12-under-par, three ahead of New Zealand's Munchin Keh and Swede Lynn Carlsson.

Tied for the lead with Carlsson entering the last day, MacLaren twice lost her lead during the final round and it was a tense finish, but the 24-year-old from Northamptonshire, finished eagle, par, birdie, under intense pressure to close out for her win.