Star Indian golfer Aditi Ashok dished out a bogey free remaining spherical after a shocking again 9 to win the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana match for her second title of the season right here.
Aditi’s remaining spherical of 66 with a again 9 of 5-under 31 noticed her end at 17-under as she beat Anne Van Dam (68) of the Netherlands by two pictures on Sunday.
It was Aditi’s second win of the season and fifth of her profession on the Ladies European Tour.
She started the 2023 season with a win in Kenya within the first occasion of the yr and ended it with one other trophy right here within the final occasion.
It was a formidable week for Aditi, who had completed fourth on the Tokyo Olympics, as she shot 69-68-68-66 at Real Club de Golf Las Brisas.
“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,” mentioned Aditi.
“It was a great battle. Anne (Van Dam), 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.
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“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.” Aditi, who was in a tie for second place in a single day, didn’t make her first birdie till the seventh however that kickstarted her momentum.
She added two extra on the tenth and thirteenth however it was her three birdies on the trot on 15, 16 and 17 which sealed her the title.
“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 makeable range. I guess the 16th tee shot was the shot of the day,” she mentioned.
“One 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.” India’s different star Diksha Dagar (67) ended tied-seventh on 10-under-par, together with defending champion Caroline Hedwall, Norway’s Madelene Stavnar, France’s Celine Boutier and Spanish beginner Andrea Revuelta.
Diksha improved over the past two rounds after beginning with 72-71. She carded 68-67 over the weekend.
Aditi, who performed solely eight occasions this season, completed fourth on the Race to Costa del Sol, whereas Diksha was third.
In the 2023 Race to Costa del Sol, Trichat Cheenglab took the trophy with a tally of 1,966.52 factors forward of Boutier and Dagar.
Cheenglab adopted within the footsteps of compatriot Atthaya Thitikul and have become the sixth participant to win each the Race to Costa del Sol and Rookie of the Year titles in the identical season.
Dutch star Anne Van Dam ended the week in second place on 15-under-par after a remaining spherical of 68 (-4).
Van Dam, who has received this match twice beforehand, went toe-to-toe with Aditi all through the ultimate spherical and had 5 birdies and one bogey on her scorecard.
“It was a tough day. 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,” mentioned Van Dam, a five-time winner on the LET.
“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.” Spain’s Ana Peláez Trivino ended the week in third place after a remaining spherical of 68 (-4) which included 5 birdies and one bogey.
Sweden’s Linn Grant and Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley completed in a tie for fourth place on 12-under-par with Belgium’s Manon De Roey in outright sixth.