Aditi to lead home challenge at Hero Women’s Indian Open

By Rahul Banerji

Aditi Ashok will be back for the Hero Women’s Indian Open after an enforced gap during which she whipped up considerable excitement with her feats at the Tokyo Olympics.

The 24-year-old from Bangalore wrote a new chapter in Indian golf history by becoming the first from the country to win on the Ladies European Tour when she won the Hero Women’s Indian Open in 2016.

She made quick progress from there, adding two more LET wins in 2016 and 2017 and earning a card on the toughest Tour in the world, the LPGA in the United States.

Yet, it was the LET was where Aditi captured the imagination for the first time. Little wonder then her record on the tour is incredible.

From 57 LET starts, Aditi has three wins and 18 top 10s. That is almost a 38 per cent strike rate, meaning she finished in the top 10 once in every three starts.

Last year at the Olympics, she had the country agog in the early hours as she came agonizingly close to the podium.

Despite a masterclass in putting that had the golfing fraternity buzzing, a medal proved elusive as world n. 1 Nelly Korda won the gold while local star Mone Inami edged out Lydia Ko of New Zealand to the silver.

Ko settled for bronze and Aditi was fourth, leaving the rest of the who’s who of women’s golf some distance behind.

Domestic boost

Aditi had single-handedly put the game of golf front and centre for Indian sports fans that had even prime minister Narendra Modi, applauding her achievement.

Having played the HWIO since her debut in 2011, Aditi turned in superb performances between 2011 and 2015 in her five appearances as an amateur.

She made the cut four times, finished in the top 10 once, twice in the top 15 and missed the cut only once. 

Aditi won a pro event on the domestic Hero Women’s Golf Tour, while still holding amateur status. She carried on from there when she turned pro in 2016.

No Indian had ever won the National Open and Aditi set the record straight, by winning it at the DLF Golf and Country Club, where she will be playing again this week from October 20.

The celebrations had not even abated and in the very next start at the Qatar Ladies Open, she won again. A third LET Trophy came her way in 2017 when she won the FBM Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi.

This year as the National Open returns, so does Aditi, who has always worn India colours with great pride.

Aditi’s HWIO record

2011 – Tied 90th (MC); 2012 – Tied 8th; 2013 – Tied 60th; 2014 – Tied 14th; 2015 – Tied 12th; 2016 – Win; 2017 – Tied-13th

Also read: Christine Wolf returns to defend HWIO title after three-year wait