Aditi two shots off LPGA Classic lead, Diksha T7 in Germany

By Rahul Banerji

Aditi Ashok continued to extend her lucrative LPGA Tour season with a tied sixth place after two days of the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Michigan, on Friday.

Her 5 under on day two gave the Bangalore golfer a 9 under 135 aggregate and shared sixth place, two shots behind Japan’s Ayaka Furue. Four others shared second place.

Aditi birdied her first hole of the day and added four more over the next 17 holes to maintain her clean card over two days.

She has been runner-up once this season and has two other top-10 finishes, at the Cognizant Founders Cup and the Mizuho Americas Cup.

Hyo Joo Kim (65), Leona Maguire (65), Carlota Ciganda (66) and Amy Yang (67) were a stroke behind the leader on 10 under 134s.

Defending champion Jennifer Kupcho (69) was alongside Aditi with Manon De Roey (65), Minjee Lee (67), Emily Kristine Pedersen (68) and Lindsey Weaver-Wright (69).

Diksha seventh in Germany

Meanwhile, in Brandenburg, Germany, Diksha Dagar (69-69) and Avani Prashanth (65-79) led four Indians into the final rounds of the Amundi German Masters.

Diksha shot a second successive 69 for tied seventh on 6 under par 138 while Avani followed her opening 67 with a rocky 79 for tied 32^nd place.

Ridhima Dilawari and Vani Kapoor also made the cut at tied 58^th while Amandeep Drall (77-75) missed out.

Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson fired a bogey-free 67 (-5) on day two for a one-stroke lead at the Golf & Country Club Seddiner See. One shot further back in second place on 10-under-par is Czechia’s Kristyna Napoleaova (66).

Diksha, who has two top 10s in recent weeks was one-under through the front nine before picking up three shots on her way back to the clubhouse.

Playing on a sponsors’ invitation Avani followed her first-day albatross on the par-5 13^th hole with an unfortunate quadruple bogey, a difference of seven shots on a single hole.

In all, she had two birdies and five bogeys, beside the quad for a 14-shot swing between rounds one and two.

Ridhima had two birdies and three bogeys in her 73, while Vani had three birdies, four bogeys and a double in her 75.

Also read: Avani fires rare albatross enroute to second at German Masters