By Rahul Banerji
LPGA regular Aditi Ashok was four shots off the lead after the third round of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España in Marbella, Spain, on Saturday.
Aditi, made the most of Moving Day to close in on the leader, Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark at the Aloha Golf Club.
The Dane came through a crowded leader board to aggregate 14-under par 202 heading into the final round while Aditi was on 10-under 206.
Swedish teenager Julia Engstrom returned a career-best 8-under par 64 to end the day in second place on 12 under par 204. The big-hitting Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands was third on 11 under.
The two other Indians in the field, Diksha Dagar (72-69-77) and Tvesa Malik (72-71-75), made the cut but were well down the order on 2-over par 218s and in a share of 40th place.
Aditi went out in 2-under 34 with two birdies in her front nine and picked up two further shots immediately after making the turn. But for a dropped shot on the par-4 14th hole, it was a clean round and the Indian star has set herself up well for a solid Sunday finish.
Hun An replaces Jason Day for Prez Cup
Meanwhile, following Brooks Koepka’s withdrawal from the US team for the Presidents Cup, Internationals captain Ernie Els said that Korean Byeong Hun An would join his squad following the withdrawal of Australia’s Jason Day.
Day was a captain’s pick to be a part of the Internationals for a fifth time and said earlier in the week that he was withdrawing with a back injury, a PGA Tour statement said.
The Presidents Cup returns to Australia and the Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time and will be contested between the Internationals and USA from December 9 to 15.
“We wish Jason well and hope his back recovers quickly. We were eager to have Jason as part of the team at Royal Melbourne and his experience will be missed,” Els said.
‘Solid pool’
“The good news is that there were a number of strong and qualified players available to choose from when I made my captain’s selections. To have someone as steady and talented as Ben An puts us in a great position to succeed.”
With An’s inclusion, the Internationals now have two Koreans including as 2019 PGA Tour rookie of the tear Sungjae Im, who was also one of Els’ picks.
During the 2018-19 PGA Tour Season, An had three top-10s and eight top-25 finishes including a third-place result at the Wyndham Championship in August.
An was 15th in the team standings to miss out on automatic selection but put together a strong case by starting the 2019-20 PGA Tour season well, including top-10s at the Sanderson Farms Championship (3rd), The CJ Cup@Nine Bridges (T6) and the Zozo Championship (T8).
Good record
He also finished T14 at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
“I’m sorry to hear that Jason has been forced to withdraw from the International Team and I wish him a speedy recovery. It was a huge surprise to receive a call from Ernie who told me that I was in the team,” An said.
“It has been a goal of mine all season to be on the team and I am honoured to play in my first Presidents Cup. I’m looking forward to joining Ernie and the rest of the team in Melbourne and, more importantly, contribute to the International Team’s goal to win the Cup.”
Day said: “I’m quite disappointed I won’t be coming home to play in either the Australian Open in Sydney or the Presidents Cup the following week in Melbourne.
“I was quite looking forward to both events. I had been prepping all week in Palm Springs when I was injured. Frustratingly, I’ve been through back problems before and my medical team decided it best to shut down all practice and play.
“Therefore, I wanted to inform Golf Australia as well as provide Ernie as much time as possible to best prepare our team.”
Day finished ninth in the team standings and has a 5-11-4 Presidents Cup record, the PGA Tour statement added.
Also read: LPGA, LET join hands to broaden scope, reach of women’s golf
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