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Spanish Open Golf 2023: Aditi Ashok Shows Steely Grit To Win Year-Ending Ladies European Tour Title, Her Second This Season

Before winning the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana (Spanish Open), 25-year-old Aditi Ashok had bagged a silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 and annexed the Kenya Ladies Open in February

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Aditi Ashok celebrates with the Spanish Open trophy.
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Two-time Olympian Aditi Ashok saved her best for the last, displaying a steely grit in the final few holes to chart a two-shot triumph over The Netherlands' Anne van Dam at the Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana on Sunday. The victory at the year-ending Spanish Open was her second on the Ladies European Tour (LET) and her fifth overall. (Golf News

The 25-year-old from Bengaluru began and ended her season on LET with wins, having annexed the opening event, the Kenya Ladies Open, by nine shots in February. In terms of prize money, this is the biggest victory for Aditi, who pocketed a winner’s purse of 97,500 euros.

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Aditi had an impressive week, where she improved round by round at Real Club de Golf Las Brisas. She finished on 17-under par, ahead of Anne, who ended at 15-under par. India’s Diksha Dagar was tied seventh at 10-under, though she finished third in the Race to Costa Del Sol (LET Order of Merit) rankings with Aditi.

It has been a brilliant season for Aditi. Besides the two wins on LET this season, she was second in the Saudi Ladies International, third in the Lalla Meryem Cup, and bagged a silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023.

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“It started out slow, I was missing a lot of birdies for the first six to eight holes,” said Aditi. “I hit it close on seven, after that I felt like I still had a chance. Initially, it felt like I was two shots away the whole time. I’m glad it picked up on the back-nine,” she added.

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