Alands (Finland), Sep 2 (Golf News) Indian golfers Diksha Dagar and Vani Kapoor rallied to card a matching even par 72 after being three-over within the first six holes of the opening round at the Aland 100 Ladies Open here.

While Dagar had a troublesome start on the front nine, Vani had a big double bogey after starting from the back nine. However, the two ensured they finish round one at Tied-12th.

Finland's Ursula Wikstrom and Austrian Emma Spitz shared the first round lead after a matching four-under 68 each in challenging and windy conditions here.

Among the other Indians, Ridhima Dilawari and Amandeep Drall shot two-over 74 each and were T-27, while Tvesa Malik (75) was T-39. Neha Tripathi (80) had a very rough day.

Vani, started with a birdie on the ninth, the starting hole for the back nine at the Alands Golf Club, but dropped a crippling quadruple bogey on the Par-4 13th, which was her fifth hole.

She had another bogey on Par-5 16th at which point she was 3-over after six holes. From there, she rallied superbly to finish the day at even par.

Making a similar rally was Diksha, who started on the first nine and dropped shots on second, fourth and sixth. She recovered from there with birdies on 12th, 13th and 15th to get back to even par 72.

Ridhima and Amandeep had just one birdie each against three bogeys, while Tvesa had one birdie against four bogeys in 3-over 75.

Finland's Ursula Wikstrom, one of the most experienced players on the LET, had just one bogey against five birdies, while Spitz started with a bogey on first and had six birdies and an eagle against four bogeys in an eventful round of 68.

Home hope Wikstrom, who started from the ninth, birdied the 11th, 14th and 17th holes before sinking a five metre putt on the 18th green to tie for the lead. She dropped a shot on the first hole, but quickly recovered with a birdie on the fourth.

Three of Wikstrom's eight runner-up finishes have been in this tournament.

Sofie Bringner is one stroke behind the leaders in third position on three-under-par 69.

Sweden's Isabella Deilert, Anne-Charlotte Mora of France and England's Sarah Gee are tied for fourth on two-under-par 70.

Five other players are tied for seventh position on one-under-par as only 11 players played under par and another eight, including Vani and Diksha, played even par. 

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News Source : PTI