April 02, 2017: There is still another round to play in the first major of the season. But we have already seen enough maturity and poise from Aditi Ashok to start believing that the first ever Indian golfer to win a major title could in fact be a woman. So much for golf being a male preserve.
The golfer from Bengaluru played out yet another brilliantly composed round of golf to plant herself firmly in place for a respectable finish, with a solid 72 in the third round on Saturday. Lexi Thompson has a two-stroke lead over Suzann Pettersen at 13-under 203. There are four women at 10-under including Inbee Park.
Aditi is just two behind Amy Yang, Lydia Ko and six other women currently tied in 11th place with 18 holes to play. She has made scores of 72-69-72 through the first three rounds for a 54-hole total of 213.
The young girl from Bengaluru turned 19 last week, but has already shown enough to believe that she is clearly set to work her way through to the top echelons of golf.
At one point during the third round, Aditi was well entrenched inside the top twenty before ending the day in T23. After a spectacular second round in which Aditi made an impressive six birdies, she settled for a relatively quiet effort on Saturday.
Aditi started her day with a birdie at the second hole, before conceding the advantage straight back at the next hole. She made seven consecutive pars from there before leaking a stroke at the par-5 11th hole.
Aditi steadied herself with six straight pars from there before signing off in style with a birdie at the final hole.
Aditi is in the 22nd group for the final round, playing with Azahara Munoz, another precociously talented Spanish golfer. The two have known each other from life on the circuit, so that should help Aditi stay focused and calm through a promising final round.
