Golfer Aditi Ashok impresses by placing 2nd amongst big names

(Golf news) Olympics 2020 live updates: Aditi Ashok, an Indian golfer, got off to a flying start in the Tokyo Olympics Golf competition on Wednesday, shooting a four-under 67 at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.

Aditi, who first drew the attention of the golfing world at the Rio Olympics five years ago, tied for second place with World No. 1 Nelly Korda.

Madalene Sagstrom of Sweden, the leader, was one shot behind her at 66.

If it hadn't been for a bogey on the 18th hole, Aditi may have been in a tie for first.

Aditi made five birdies to one bogey on the final hole, while Sagstrom shot a bogey-free five-under 66.

She was ranked significantly ahead of some of the game's biggest names, including defending champion Inbee Park (69).

Diksha Dagar (76), India's only competitor in the field, got off to a shaky start in her first Olympics, with five bogeys and no birdies, tying for 56th place.

The 60-player field will play 18 holes each day with no cut, giving all participants a total of 72 holes to play.

Aditi made birdies on the fifth and ninth holes, respectively, from 15 feet and seven feet.

She added birdies on the back nine, including one from 15 feet on the 13th and another from nearly 18 feet on the 17th.

In the meantime, she made another birdie on the 14th after a great approach from under three feet. She bogeyed the last after missing a par from under seven feet, putting her at 5-under.

"I think I played better than I expected today because I had a lot of hybrids into the greens, so I didn't really expect to be like 5-under through 17," Aditi said.

"But, I kind of holed some (good) putts and holed important par putts as well which kept the momentum. So, yeah, it was a good day." Aditi's father, Ashok, was on the bag five years ago when she qualified for the Olympics, but this time it's her mother, Maheshwari, who has had a significant influence on her.

"Yeah, my mom, she's caddying for me. Last time I had my dad on the bag, so the experience was just so incredible. I was like I want to have my mom next time and I made good on that promise," Aditi said.

Aditi said she was a rookie last time but now has a wealth of experience.

"…I just finished my high school exams and then I was at the Olympics in two months. But this time I think definitely a lot more experience, just playing on the LPGA the last five years makes you way better as a player than I was at Rio.

"And I think the Olympic experience was, I didn't finish as well as I wanted to last time, but just seeing the effect that it had on golf in India was inspiring and that's kind of what motivated me for this one as well." The 23-year-old Bengaluru native, who has competed in 18 Majors, drew international notice with a 68-68 start in the first two rounds in Rio, but subsequently fell to T-41st. World number two Ko Jin-young of South Korea, Matilda Castren of Finland, and Carlota Ciganda of Spain were all tied for fourth after shooting 3-under 68.

With Inputs from PTI

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