Golfer Aditi Ashok impresses on opening day at Tokyo Olympics
Aditi carded a four-under 67 in the first round of the women’s golf event at Tokyo 2020 and shared the second position with PGA winner Nelly Korda.
India golfer Aditi Ashok got off to a flying start at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Aditi, along with the reigning women’s PGA Championships winner Nelly Korda of the USA, were tied-second with a score of four-under 67 after the opening round at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.
Sweden’s Madelene Sagström, meanwhile, led the field by one shot with a score of five-under 66.
Two-time Olympian Aditi Ashok even briefly led the round before a bogey on the final green saw her slip. The Indian golfer had also led the women’s golf tournament for a short time during the second round at Rio 2016, where she eventually finished 41st.
Aditi Ashok, world No. 200, enjoyed an error-free round in Tokyo until the 17th green, carding five birdies in all.
“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 Ashok said. “But, yeah, I kind of holed some putts and holed important par putts as well which kept the momentum. So, yeah, it was a good day.”
The final hole, set in between a bunker on the front and water right behind, proved to be tricky as Aditi overhit the second shot on the fairway. She, thus, needed an extra shot for the putt on the par-four 18th.
Meanwhile, Olympic debutant Diksha Dagar, who made it to Tokyo 2020 after a withdrawal, carded five bogeys. The 20year-old Indian golfer was placed tied-56 with a score of five-over 76.