Aditi Ashok claims historic home win at Indian Open
Sunday 13 November 2016 14:31, UK
Aditi Ashok became the first Indian to win a Ladies European Tour title as she birdied the final hole to clinch a dramatic home victory at the Hero Women's Indian Open.
Ashok held her nerve to hole the winning putt from four feet at the last to edge out Brittany Lincicome and Belen Mozo, with a final-round 72 giving her a winning score of three under par in the 54-hole tournament.
The 18-year-old, who secured her rookie LET season when she won the Lalla Aicha Tour School last December, came into her home event on the back of four consecutive top-10 finishes.
Ashok, who competed at the Rio Olympics, continued her impressive run of form at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon, although she was pushed all the way by Mozo as the pair arrived on the 18th tee tied for the lead along with Lincicome.
The American was unable to take advantage of the par-five closing hole and settled for a bogey-free 69 to set the target at two under as Mozo and Ashok both dropped a shot at the 17th.
Mozo then left her 20-foot birdie attempt short on the final green, but Ashok made no mistake after her third landed beyond the target and rolled back to four feet.
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"I've had a lot of good finishes at the Indian Open and to finally get the job done feels good, especially as an Indian player in front of my home crowd. It means a lot to win this," said Ashok, who admitted she got a touch of good fortune with her approach to the 18th.
"I was planning to play just for the front but I was playing out of the rough so it came out hot and it flew more," she added. "It's a tricky hole because you can't see the green. I think I was really lucky on the 18th but I missed quite a few on the front nine. The course was giving back to me."
Mozo said: "I had a great battle today with Aditi. She's a great player and when you compete with players this young, they are fearless, they don't feel anything in their veins and they just go for it. I played great until the last hole. I hit a really good shot and I stayed short for birdie, which I'm probably going to think about for a long time."
England's Florentyna Parker enjoyed her sixth top-10 finish of the year after she also kept a mistake off her card in a solid two-under 70 which claimed outright fifth on level par, while Order of Merit leader Beth Allen was a shot further adrift after closing with an entertaining eight-birdie 68 - the joint low round of the day.
