The Ladies European Tour heads to Delhi this week for the 15th staging of the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

Staged at DLF Golf & Country Club for the sixth year in a row, 120 players will line up for a shot at the crown.

A new No. 1 on the horizon?

As the LET enters the business end of the season with only four events remaining, there could be a new No. 1 in the Race to Costa del Sol standings come Sunday with several stars hot on Celine Boutier’s heels.

Boutier is absent in India meaning Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson (second place) and home favourite Diksha Dagar (fourth place) could leapfrog the French Major winner with a solo second finish or better in India.

The pair are both within 320 points of Boutier — the number of points rewarded for finishing runner-up this week — with Gustavsson in hot form after landing her maiden LET title last month at the Ladies Open de France.

Elsewhere, Thai rookie Trichat Cheenglab, the winner of the Big Green Egg Open, could also jump to top spot with a second victory of the season this week.

Diksha Dagar. Ladies European Tour

Dagar eyes history

Speaking of Dagar, there’s more than just the Race to Costa del Sol on the line this week as the left-hander looks to become only the second Indian to win her home event.

The Olympian is enjoying her best season to date with six top-10 finishes and one victory at the Czech Ladies Open.

Well placed to land a second title of the season this week, history is as stake for Dagar as she looks to follow in the footsteps of Aditi Ashok (2016) and become the second domestic winner of the Hero Women’s Indian Open.

Local stars aiming to shine

Alongside Dagar an abundance of local stars will also be teeing up this week hoping to emulate Ashok’s heroics from seven years ago.

Just like in previous years, the 120-player strong field includes a group of players from the Women’s Golf Association of India (WGIA) – this year culminating in 35 members and 32 Indian golfers.

Aiming to make their mark on domestic soil are the likes of Seher Atwal, Tvesa Malik and Amandeep Drall, while Delhi’s own Vani Kapoor will be hoping to take advantage of teeing up at her home club.

Elsewhere, Avani Prashanth is also one to keep a close eye on, the 16-year-old amateur who became the first Indian to win on the LET Access Series in August when she landed the Ahlsell Final in Sweden.

Ladies European Tour

Delightful DLF

Last but not least, the stars of the LET will have to be at their creative best this week as they tackle one of the most unique courses on the calendar — DLF Golf & Country Club.

The Gary Player championship course — located in Gurgaon on the outskirts of New Delhi — is consistently ranked one of the best golf courses in India and features a spectacular amphitheatre design full of dramatic deep-faced bunkers, undulating fairways, water hazards and scenic tee shots.

With fairways narrow and several holes featuring sharp doglegs, finding the short cut will be crucial this week with the winner needing to be accurate off the tee.

With that in mind, players could be tempted to keep their drivers in the bag on this delightfully unique track.

The 72-hole, four day Hero Women’s Indian Open gets under way on Thursday.

Main image: Ladies European Tour