‘Treating It Like a Regular Golf Tournament’ – Aditi Ashok Makes Early Leaderboard Surge at Tokyo Olympics 2020

The first round of the women’s golf event at Tokyo Olympics 2020 had a captivating start and only 22 players remained under par or better for the day, with few underdogs making it to the top. Swedish golfer Madelene Sagstrom currently leads the event by a stroke, while India’s Aditi Ashok and world no.1 Nelly Korda are just a stroke behind the leader.?

American golfer Nelly Korda is one of the favorites to win a medal and has started her campaign with much confidence. But the biggest surprise of the day has been India’s Aditi Ashok. She scored 67 and remained -4 for the day and was at the top till the final hole, where she sadly committed a bogey.?

“I feel like my games been there,” says Aditi Ashok

Aditi Ashok, who is playing her second Olympics, gave a post-round interview after round one where she reflected on what the Olympics means to her.?

“Yeah, for me, obviously, it means a lot. Golf has been under the radar for the media in India. And I think as a sport, it’s not covered as much. So even though I’ve made it to and won on the LET and even made it to the LPGA, it never really got as much recognition compared to other sports.”

“So I think for me, seeing how the Olympics boosted women’s golf in India was just motivating for me. I didn’t have any expectations heading to the Olympics the last time, but that was definitely one of the key takeaways for me.”

Finally, answering about the pressure of the Olympics, she said, “I mean, I’m obviously done, I’ve done it once.?And I was playing really good at the last Olympics, so I kind of know what that felt like. And I’ve been playing good the last few weeks. At least I feel like my games been there. So I’m just treating it like a regular golf tournament and trying to play my best every hole.”? ?

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India’s Aditi surprises everyone with a strong start

Aditi Ashok had a phenomenal start to the Tokyo Olympics 2020. She started the round slowly with four pars but then made a couple of birdies on 5th and 9th and remained -2 thru front nine. The appreciable achievement for Aditi was that she successfully remained bogey-free on the front nine while a few prominent players struggled their way through with a couple of bogeys.?

Continuing the same momentum on the back nine, she made back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14. Furthermore, Ashok made her fifth birdie of the day and once shared the co-lead during the day. But unfortunately, Aditi dropped a shot on the last hole as she failed to make an up-and-down from 12 yards. However, even with that bogey on the 18th, Aditi has a score of -4 and is T2 going into the second round.?

Now, going into round two, she must keep the momentum going and not let the round one advantage get away from her. Consistency will be a primary factor as she was in a similar position (T7) after round 1 at the Rio Olympics. But unfortunately, she couldn’t capitalize on it and finished with T41.??

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