Aditi Ashok wins by nine shots in Kenya, captures her fourth LET title
Aditi Ashok won the Magical Kenya Ladies Open on Sunday by nine shots, giving her one of the most dominant performances on the Ladies European Tour. The 24-year-old Aditi, who currently mostly competes on the Ladies PGA in the United States, earned her fourth victory on the Ladies European Tour.
Aditi, who turns 25 in one month, also broke a protracted losing streak after her last victory in Abu Dhabi in November 2017. Her first two victories occurred in back-to-back starts, at the Hero Women's Indian Open and the Qatar Ladies Open the following week.
Aditi played rounds of 67-70-69-74 and ended at 12-under 280 at the Par-73 Vipingo Ridge, where she had placed second in 2019, the inaugural year of the competition. Aditi is accompanied by her father Ashok in the bag.
Her performance in the LET is excellent; in 60 appearances, she has four victories and 20 top-10 finishes, which translates to one top-10 result per three competitions.
She could be aiming for her first LPGA victory with this triumph, making history by becoming the first Indian to accomplish it, just as she was the first to do so on the Ladies European Tour.
The slender Aditi, who has won professional competitions while still competing as an amateur in her own country, almost missed winning an Olympic medal in the Tokyo Games. She came in fourth place, but the entire country praised her.
Teenager Avani Prashanth scored 1-under 72 on the last day to finish in the top-10 and tie for ninth place, but Aditi maintained the limelight as India's best amateur. Amandeep Drall (77) tied for joint-55th place.
Aditi grabbed a three-shot lead in the opening round of her first tournament in more than two months. She then increased it to five after two rounds, and then to six after the third. She won the competition by nine strokes over Thai teenager April Angurasaranee and Englishwoman Alice Hewson (72), who ended birdie-birdie (77).
Aditi might have won by more than ten points, but she missed crucial strokes late in the game. She bogeyed the Par-5 15th and the Par-3 17th, but in a week where Aditi outperformed the field, those errors were almost incidental.
Aditi performed consistently throughout the week at a course where wildlife, including as giraffes, are a highlight, and she entered the final day with a six-shot lead. On the first day, she made two bogeys, one on the second, and none on the third. Her 1-over 74 in the final round was the only round she played over par, as she dropped three strokes on the last day.
She started the final day with a birdie on the first hole, gave it back on the eighth, then picked up another birdie on the eleventh to be 1-under through 11 holes. Near the end, she missed two shots.
0
0
0
0
0
0
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments