Oct 27, 2016: Aditi Ashok endured four lost strokes in the first round of the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia to rescue herself with an even par effort. Korean Amy Yang soared above the field with an impressive 63 to earn a two shot lead over Marina Alex, who shot 6-under 65.
Michelle Wie, not in the best of form this season, found herself bunched in a six strong group in third place. Wie, Mo Martin, Azahara Munoz, Jenny Shin, Shanshan Feng and Suzann Pettersen scored 5-under 66 on Thursday.
Aditi Ashok started her round with a birdie at the very first hole. But the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club took it right off her, when she conceded a bogey at the third hole.
Aditi Ashok made four straight pars from there, before posting a pair of birdies to end the front nine on a high. She took 33 strokes to navigate those nine holes.
But the 18 year old Indian suffered a double blow just after the turn. Aditi Ashok compounded a bogey at the eleventh with a double bogey six at the 13th hole to drop to one over for the day.
The resolute golfer responded straight back with a birdie at the par-4 14th to climb back to even par. That is where she finished, reaching the clubhouse with four consecutive pars for a hard earned 71.
Yang, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, is looking for her third victory and thrives in this weather but there is a lot of golf yet to be played here in Malaysia. The Korea native said she felt good today and enjoys playing in Southeast Asia.
“I don’t know why, but I do enjoy Southeast Asia. I’d rather play in this weather than cold weather,” said Yang. “A lot of golf to play the next three days, so just going to keep being simple.”
Alex is the No. 118 player in the Rolex Rankings with a standout performance with seven birdies in the opening round and sits two shots back after day one. The fourth-year member has two top-10 finishes this season, a tie for eighth place (Manulife LPGA Classic) and a tie for sixth place (LPGA Volvik Championship) and is looking to pick up her first win.
“I putted great,” said Alex. “Obviously anyone who shoots a low number is going to say they putted well. I just worked a little bit on it yesterday and I just for whatever reason, the stuff that I was working on really felt good on the course and I holed a bunch of putts. Some are 20 to 30-footers, so it was really nice to see some long putts go in the hole.”
Defending champ Jessica Korda (71) sits in a tie for 30th alongside 12 others.
