KAEC (Saudi Arabia), Mar 16 (PTI) India's main challengers on the Ladies European Tour, Tvesa Malik and Diksha Dagar will rub shoulders with some big names when they tee off in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International golf tournament starting here on Thursday.

The two Indian golfers will compete for a share of USD 1million prize money in the second event of what will be a record-breaking season on the Ladies European Tour.

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They will compete against a field featuring the likes of Major-winners and Solheim Cup stars Georgia Hall, Anna Nordqvist, Emily Kristine Pedersen and Bronte Law in what is now one of the biggest paying events on the LET calendar.

Malik is looking forward to laying down an early season marker at one of the biggest non-Major events of the year.

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“I'm very excited to be back, and I'm very excited to start here in Saudi with such a big event," she said.

"The course looks really good, so I'm looking forward to it. This is the windiest we've played it so far but I'm getting used to it now. It takes some getting used to, but yeah, I think it's going to be a good test.”

This will be Malik's first event of the new season, following a three-month break which she spent at home, working on a number of alterations to the way she plays the game.

“I worked on a lot of changes in my swing, just to see if I can get a little better,” explained Malik, who has been an LET professional since 2017.

“It's a work in progress that needs a little bit of time, but I'm working hard at it, so I hope it all comes together soon.

“I had a decent finish last year. I finished in the top 20, but I'd like to finish better than that this year. If I can get the swing changes to set in, I think I'll be pretty happy.”

Asked on the increased investment in the women's game, Malik said: “I think it's amazing. It makes it really exciting and is reward for how hard we work and how much time we're spending out here."

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Dagar admitted that she too has her eyes set on making an impact in Saudi Arabia.

“I have played this course many times. The last time I played was in the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah in November with Georgia Hall and Maha Haddioui and I had so much fun," she said.

"This week is a big event with $1million prize money. That's a lot of money for the girls who play on the Ladies European Tour, so I'm looking forward to playing and to try to win this trophy."

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)