Sylvania (US), Jul 18 (PTI) Aditi Ashok carded a fine two-under 69 in the final round of the Dana Open to add yet another Top-10 finish to her tally in a season that has been going great guns for the Indian golfer.
Unable to find a birdie in the first 10 holes of the final round, which had one bogey on the second, Aditi gathered birdies on 11th, 16th and 18th and rose to Tied-seventh for her fifth Top-10 finish of the season so far.
Though she missed only two of the 14 fairway, Aditi managed only 12 of the 18 greens in regulation, yet she putted superbly with 28 putts for the round for a card of 69 that gave her a total of 12-under for the four rounds.
It was a superb week for Aditi, who is still some way off her best. She had 13 birdies and an eagle and just one bogey and one double the entire week, indicating a lot of consistency.
She was, however, not able to show the same consistency at the Majors so far, but will have a chance to make up at the Evian and the Open.
Aditi is currently ranked 22nd on the Race to CME Globe, the Order of Merit for LPGA.
Sweden’s Linn Grant, who was in the running for a sub-60 round, won her first LPGA Tour title. She handled a charge from US Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz and closed with a three-under 68 for a three-shot victory at the Dana Open.
The 24-year-old Grant has five victories on the Ladies European Tour — including a historic nine-shot win last year against a field of men and women in the Scandinavian Mixed.
She earned LPGA membership starting last season, but did not play in the US until this year, when the US dropped its COVID-19 vaccination requirement for foreigners. The Swede did not disclose her reasons for remaining unvaccinated. With a LPGA win she is now set for the Tour in the US.
Grant entered the final day with a six-shot lead after a 62 in the third round. She parred her first seven holes, chipped in for birdie from behind the green on the par-3 eighth, and still led by six at the turn.
But Corpuz, a week after she won at Pebble Beach for her first LPGA title, made it interesting with birdies on four of the last five holes to shoot 65 and get within two shots.
Grant saved par on the par-4 16th and finished with a birdie on the par-5 18th, reaching the green in two with a 3-wood that she didn’t think she could get there. Her four-day total at Highland Meadows was 21-under 263.
Lindy Duncan also closed with a 65 and was alone in third, six shots back. Xiyu Janet Lin (67) and Stephanie Kyriacou (69) were another shot behind. Kyriacou played in the final group and had her best LPGA finish.
Source: PTI News
