Marbella (Spain), Nov 26 (PTI) India’s Aditi Ashok stayed in contention for her second win of the year on the Ladies European Tour after she shot a 4-under par in the third round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España.
Aditi, who won the season-opener in Kenya, is looking at a unique performance of winning the opening and closing events of the season on the Tour.
Aditi was 5-under for the front nine and added a sixth birdie to gun for the top before she was hit by a double on the 13th and a bogey on the 17th.
In between, Aditi had a birdie on the 15th in her 68 and is 11-under for three rounds and a couple of shots behind the leader, Kirsten Rudgeley, who continued her fine form in Spain, producing a round of 68.
Diksha Dagar, third on the LET order of merit, recovered from her 72-71 on the first two days with a 68 on the third and moved up to tied 15th.
Diksha had a bogey start but then birdied five times on the third, fifth, eighth, 12th and 15th. She is now 5-under for 54 holes.
Aditi had a phenomenal start to her round with five birdies on her front in Spain, and she added another on hole 10.
The two-time Olympian ran into some trouble on 13, where she made a double bogey, but soon made a birdie on 15 before another bogey on 17 for her round of 68 (-4).
“I was trying to make a move today; I think the front nine was good. I gave myself a lot of birdie chances,” said Ashok, who won the LET’s season opener in Kenya.
“I feel I missed a couple because I was looking at birdie on nearly every hole, but back nine, it kind of slowed down and killed my momentum.
“I tried to force a couple of birdies. I three-putted on 17, but four-under is still a good round, and hopefully, I can try and do better tomorrow.” Australian Rudgeley, who held a two-shot lead overnight, had another day without a blemish on her scorecard at Real Club de Golf Las Brisas.
After making her first birdie on the third, the rookie rolled in three more on the ninth, 10th and 12th holes to sit at the top of the leaderboard on 13-under-par.
She said, “My uncle, that’s why he is here this week. He lives not far from here, and I do like Spain.
“It’s good fun; it reminds me of home. It’s nice to have family over here – the two little cousins and I don’t have to travel 17 hours back to Perth to go home.” A couple of players are in a tie for second place, with Dutch star Anne Van Dam and Aditi Ashok both on 11-under-par at the 54-hole mark.
Five-time LET winner Van Dam carded a bogey-free 65 (-7) to climb up the leaderboard with four birdies on her front nine and three on her back nine.
Van Dam enjoys playing in this part of Europe, having won the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España title in 2018 and 2019.
Three players are in a share of fourth place with Belgium’s Manon De Roey, France’s Celine Boutier and Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino all on nine-under-par.
Major champion and world number three Boutier carded a round of 68 (-4), while Peláez Trivino signed for a round of 70 (-2).
Based on the current positions of the Race to Costa del Sol contenders after the third round, Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab is still in pole position and is projected to stay at the top of the rankings.
Source: PTI News
