LET rookie Aditi Ashok makes it back-to-back wins at Qatar Ladies Open
Saturday 26 November 2016 16:22, UK
Aditi Ashok made it back-to-back wins on the Ladies European Tour as she enjoyed a three-shot victory at the Qatar Ladies Open in Doha.
Ashok completed a rock-solid three-under 69 on a floodlit 18th green at the Doha Golf Club following an earlier suspension in play due to the threat of lightning.
Her winning score of 15 under gave her a comfortable cushion over Lydia Hall and the fast-finishing Caroline Hedwall, who missed a par putt from inside three feet at the last that would have kept her within two of the lead.
Hedwall's miss took on more relevance when Ashok dropped her only shot of the day at the 17th, but she never looked likely to surrender a two-shot lead despite the fading light at the last and closed out victory in style with an eight-foot birdie putt.
Ashok, who became the first Indian winner on the Ladies European Tour at her home Open earlier this month, went into the final round tied for the lead with Nanna Koerstz Madsen and one ahead of Becky Morgan, but her two playing partners in the last group both struggled on the outward nine.
Morgan's challenge effectively ended when she bogeyed four of the first six holes, while Madsen hit back from a bogey at the third with birdies at five and seven before she ran up a double-bogey seven at the ninth.
Ashok calmly followed six pars with birdies at the seventh and eighth, and she soon had a commanding lead when Madsen frittered away three shots in four holes after the turn.
Up ahead, Hedwall suddenly became a serious threat when she rolled in her sixth birdie putt of the round to get to 13 under just as Ashok holed a crucial putt for birdie on the 16th green to stay two clear of the Swede.
But Hedwall made a mess of the par-five 18th and lipped out for par to ensure Ashok retained her two-shot lead for the final hole despite her slip at the 17th, and the Indian teenager duly closed out the second win of her rookie professional year just two weeks after claiming her first.
Hall birdied two of the last three holes to return a 69 and snatch a share of second with Hedwall, while Madsen also birdied 16 and 18 to salvage a 73 and finish outright fourth on 11 under with England's Annabel Dimmock (72) a shot further adrift.
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