Aditi Ashok makes brisk start at Amundi Evian Championship

Aditi Ashok, India’s lone representative on the LPGA, on her way into a share of seventh place on 4 under par 67 at the Amundi Evian Championship at the Evian Resort Golf Club on Thursday. Image courtesy LET.

By Rahul Banerji

Aditi Ashok fired an opening 4 under oar 67 to sit in a nine-way tie for seventh place in the opening round of the Amundi Evian Championship at the Evian Resort Golf Club on Thursday.

The India star opened with a birdie and was three under at the turn before picking u two more strokes against a solitary birdie at the spectacular venue on.a day of low scores and a crowded leaderboard.

Aditi’s birdies came on the par-4 opening hole and both par-5s on the front nine, and on holes 11 and 14 with her sole blemish coming on the par-4 13th.

Just five strokes separated the top 32 in the standings with a five-way tie for the lead on 6 under 65, nine clustered together two shots away in T9 and a further eight tied for 23rd place on 3 under 68s.

Tight bunch

Alongside Aditi were South Africa’s Casandra Alexander, Germany’s Helen Briem, Nelly Korda of the US, Japan’s Ayaka Furue and Mao Saigo, Mary Liu of China, and Koreans Hye-Jin Choi and Somi Lee.

World number one amateur Lottie Woad, winner of last week’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open, was the leading amateur in the field with an opening 3 under 68, while England’s Charley Hull retired due to illness after 12 holes.

At the top, Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Americans Jennifer Kupcho and Andrea Lee, and Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels and Grace Kim were tied for the lead.

Maguire’s opening round included a hole-in-one at the par-3 second hole using an 8-iron. The LET winner, who plays on both the LPGA and LET, added five birdies against one dropped shot to her card.

Both Ruffels and fellow-Aussie Kim carded bogey-free 65s on Thursday.

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