Though she didn’t take home a trophy, Aditi Ashok still found a personal victory at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro. After seven years on the LPGA Tour, Ashok finally found her way into a playoff. For the first time ever, Ashok is a runner-up.
“I think overall it’s a good week.” Ashok said after being eliminated from the playoff on the first hole. “I’ve never played in this position on the LPGA, to be near the lead on the first day and stay there the whole tournament.
“The competition is just so deep out here. Ten people have a good tournament but only one can win. I’m happy with the way I played.”
Ashok certainly has a lot to be happy about in her four days of consistent play this week. The 25-year-old got off to a great start, carding a bogey-free 5-under, her low round of the event. Her best statistical round came the next day, when she shot a 1-under 70 to take the 36-hole lead and make her first cut of 2023. Ashok hit 252.5 yards off the tee, didn’t miss a fairway and needed just 27 putts to get through the Wilshire Country Club.
Her hot streak cooled on Saturday, but Ashok quickly bounced back on Sunday. She shot 4-under, carding five birdies and a lone bogey on 17, to move to 9-under overall. Her final scorecard also served as her ticket to a playoff with Hannah Green and Xiyu Lin, where she was eliminated on the first hole after making par.
“I think I played good today, kind of like the first day, no mistakes,” Ashok said. “Just the bogey on 17. Feels like that's the shot I left out there.”
While Ashok has just made her first splash on the LPGA Tour this season, she has long been making waves across the pond. With her win at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open in February, Ashok found her first LET win in five years and now leads the Race to Costa Del Sol.
Ashok credits her recent success to her off-season grind. The 25-year-old made several tweaks to all aspects of her game, but she felt the most improvement off the tee.
“Just working on swing speed in the off-season, gained a lot of yardage, so that’s definitely helped,” Ashok explained. “The driving distance helped a lot and just working on being more consistent through the game. I changed my irons back to what I was using a couple years ago and I’m more comfortable with that, so that’s helped this week.”
It seems like Ashok is just getting started and the Tour will have a lot more to look forward to from her as the season continues. But for now, everyone will have to wait in anticipation for Ashok’s return to the range at the Cognizant Founders Cup.
“Get a week off so I’m going to relax,” Ashok said of her plans moving forward. “This week was actually a little more exhausting than I thought it was going to be. But, still, I’m happy with where my game is at, so just work on the same stuff and try and do some of this at Founders too.”
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