[ad_1]
Aditi Ashok won her second Ladies European Tour tournament of the 2023 season at the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España in Marbella, Spain on Sunday, mounting a late charge to displace early leader Anne Van Dam of The Netherlands.
Ashok made up ground in the back nine on the final day with a clutch of birdies to overtake the Dutchwoman, a former winner at Marbella and later said she was made to work hard for the win.
“It was a great battle,” said Ashok. “Anne, when she’s playing good, she can blow the field away and win by five to 10 shots. I knew I had to not stop making birdies and to keep trying.
“It started out slow, I was missing a lot of birdies for the first six to eight holes. I hit it close on seven, after that I felt like I still had a chance. Initially, it felt like I was two shots away the whole time. I’m glad it picked up on the back nine.
“On the front nine I wasn’t hitting it as good, somewhere on the back on 13 when I hit that 8-iron close I feel I made a good swing and it just picked up from there. I made three or four good swings and all of those were in holeable range. I guess the 16th tee shot was the shot of the day.
“On 18, I have struggled with that tee shot and missed it right almost all four days. It was a weird lie in the rough, I didn’t know if it would go left on me, and it did. I was just trying to make sure I had a good look at par.
“Her par when she hit the trees on 15 and my long putt, that switched the momentum a little bit. She is a great player and kept me honest out there.”
Ashok thus bookended her LET season having won the opening Magical Kenya Open at Vipingo Ridge. In between she had an impressive run on the Ladies PGA in the US and came away with her 2024 playing rights intact.
Ashok’s title and a shared seventh place finish for fellow-Olympian Diksha Dagar meant India had two players in the top five of the continental tour for the first time, underlining the excellent year it has been for women golfers from the country.
Dagar was third overall in the Race to Costa Del Sol standings behind Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab and Celine Boutier of France. Ashok took fourth place making in a landmark year for Indian women golfers.
After scores of 69, 68 and 68 on the first three days, Ashok returned a bogey-free 66 on the final day to win with a total of 17-under-par 271. Van Dam totalled 273 over the four rounds, two ahead of third placed Ana Pelaez Trivino of Spain.
Ashok, tied for second place overnight, didn’t make her first birdie until the seventh but that kickstarted her run. She added two more on holes 10 and 13 but it was her three birdies on the trot on 15, 16 and 17 that helped seal her fifth LET title.
Van Dam, who has won this tournament twice previously, went toe-to-toe with Ashok throughout the final round and had five birdies and one bogey on her card. “It was a tough day,” said the five-time LET winner.
“I was in there all day and it was super close. Aditi just came out and played unbelievably and she definitely deserved to win this week. I’m very pleased with my season overall. I came close six times now, I just need to keep working hard and the wins are right around the corner.”
Linn Grant of Sweden and Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley finished in a tie for fourth place on 12-under-par with Belgium’s Manon De Roey in outright sixth. Defending champion Caroline Hedwall, Dagar, Norway’s Madelene Stavnar, Boutier and Spanish amateur Andrea Revuelta ended in a share of seventh place on 10-under-par 278.
[ad_2]
Source link