Indian Ashok romps into early lead at Indian Open
Aditi Ashok of India pulled off a stunning show in her first round of Hero Women’s Indian Open 2012 as she romped into an early lead by shooting a 69 on Friday.
Ashok is not among the big names battling for the coveted title at the DLF Golf & Country Club, New Delhi, India, but she received plenty of appreciation after she grabbed an early lead along
with Becky Brewerton and Italian Stefania Croce who also fired a 69 each.
Starting her round on the back nine, Ashok looked confident, but misjudged the ball on the greens of the 10th hole carding a bogey. She launched her first birdie on the par-3 11th
hole.
Fired up due to home crowd support, the Indian star did not let her nerve derail her at all, and kept inching forward with the help of birdies.
Overall, Ashok carded five birdies and two bogeys. But what caught the spectators by surprise was her confidence that helped her stand strong till the final hole.
Commentators said it was unexpected for a player like Ashok to surge past all the big names. They pointed out that the first-round leader was not even favourite in the Indian lineup, but she
subdued top-ranked LET (Ladies European Tour) rivals, cementing her position.
When Ashok sank a seemingly difficult birdie-putt on the par-3 16th, her rivals did not think that she would be able to ramp up scoring campaign on the front nine too. She carded
two more birdies on the front nine.
Sharmila Nicollet, who is a much stronger contender in Indian lineup, could not get off a solid start as she posted a 73.
Glamorous Nicollet vowed before the start of the tournament that winning on home soil is her biggest aim for this season. She shared that her game has improved quite a lot in the recent past
and she would try to capitalise on favourable course conditions.
“Considering the event being on home ground with home crowd and my past results in DLF and at the Indian Open, with the familiarity I would say I have a fair chance to finish top 10 or hopefully
win it,” said Nicollet who finished tied for 22nd in the last edition of the tournament.
Tags: