British Open: Mirim Lee in the lead; Aditi Ashok misses cut

Anand Datla

July 30, 2016: She is remarkably resilient for her tender age, is Aditi Ashok. The eighteen year old from Bengaluru underlined her promise with a valiant effort in the RICOH Women’s British Open Championship. But a hard fought 71 wasn’t enough to save the young girl from the cut, dented badly by a 79 in the first round. Mirim Lee enjoys a slender one shot lead over Shanshan Feng and Ariya Jutanugarn going into the third round on the Marquess course at Woburn.
Aditi suffered four bogeys and a triple bogey eight at the 11th hole on Thursday, but showed no signs of strain when she returned to the course on Friday. She played remarkably well through the front nine, raising hopes of an incredible recovery, but it wasn’t to be.
Aditi produced four birdies on the front nine to climb out of a deep hole, making the turn in just 32 shots, an improvement of seven strokes from her effort in the first round.

But the enormous effort seemed to wear her down, as she conceded back to back bogeys at the par-5 11th and the 12th holes. The cut fell at one over and those two bogeys essentially spelt the end of her hopes for the week.
She added another at the 14th before coming home with four straight pars. Her 71 was an eight shot swing over a terrible first round – an effort that should help her confidence in the lead up to Rio.
Aditi is set to make her Olympic debut in Rio alongside seasoned professionals Anirban Lahiri and SSP Chawrasia.
South Korean Lee was the runaway leader after she posted an inspired 62 on Thursday. But her cushion was reduced to just one, after she signed on a 71 in the second round. Her 11-under score of 133 ties the course record at the halfway stage.
China’s Shanshan Feng shot 68 while Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn made 69 to get close enough to tap the heels of the leader.
“Today I had issues with my tee shots but I think I putted okay,” said the South Korean through an interpreter. “There was a little bit of nervousness but after the first few holes you forget about it. You need a bit of nerves to make you play better.”