Aditi Ashok triumphed at the 2023 Magical Kenya Ladies Open winning the tournament by nine shots to secure her fourth LET title.<\/p>\n
The two-time Olympian produced the wire-to-wire victory at Vipingo Ridge where a round of 74 (+1) on the final day was enough for the win.<\/p>\n
It was a tough afternoon for the 24-year-old as she made three bogeys and two birdies on day four, but Ashok had put in the hard work in earlier in the week to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a great week, it\u2019s proof to myself that my off-season and hard work has paid off,\u201d said Ashok.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just hard to get that shot out of my mind, I think that hole [the eighth] doesn\u2019t suit my eye so I didn\u2019t play it that well today, but after that I think I got back into my rhythm and just kept hitting fairways and greens. I think the last few holes, I didn\u2019t make many good swings but it\u2019s okay, I guess!<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was cool to have the giraffes there, it\u2019s definitely different and part of the experience of playing in Kenya. It was cool to see giraffes \u2013 I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen them that close before.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is Ashok\u2019s first trip to the winner\u2019s circle on the LET since the 2017 Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open and she paid tribute to father Gudlamani, who was on the bag once again, as well as to her team back at home.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cIt was good to have my dad on the bag \u2013 three of my wins have been with him caddying, but not just him there\u2019s my mum back home and I have worked a lot with my coach and my fitness team.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of us have put in a lot of work over two months just to get back to my original strength level and this is the first week I\u2019ve felt like I\u2019ve been back to where I was a couple of years ago which is pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
England\u2019s Alice Hewson and Thailand\u2019s April Angurasaranee finished in a tie for second place on three-under-par in the LET season-opener.<\/p>\n
LET winner Hewson, who finished 12th<\/sup> in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, ended her week with a round of 72 (-1) to move up the leaderboard and into the runners-up spot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a really enjoyable first trip to Kenya, I loved the golf course and quite enjoyed playing in the wind,\u201d said Hewson.<\/p>\n \u201cIt required a little bit of creativity out there, I definitely hit a lot of fade shots coming in and holding it against the wind and I think that was a good way to try and get close to some of those flags out there.<\/p>\n \u201cIt definitely feels good to come out of off-season and hit the ground running. I feel very happy with where my game is and where it is headed and I\u2019m happy to be here.<\/p>\n \u201cKenya has been a really incredible country; everyone has been so welcoming. Seeing all the animals out on the golf course is always helpful, we\u2019ve had a thoroughly good time and I couldn\u2019t have asked for a better week to start the year.\u201d<\/p>\n Thailand\u2019s Angurasaranee has a difficult final day carding a round of four-over, but it was still enough to finish T2 and have an excellent start to her rookie year on the LET<\/a>.<\/p>\n She explained: \u201cIt was not the last round that I wanted, but this week has been so far beyond my expectations. Coming into the week, I needed a top 10 to go to Morocco next week and finishing tied for second is amazing.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just trying to be myself out there and try to hit good drives and good shots and make as many putts as I could without being overly needy. I was just trying to stay as myself and play golf and have fun.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is my second or third time in the last group and playing with Aditi and watching her play and her shots was an incredible experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s Gabriela Ruffels finished in fourth place on two-under-par, with Japan\u2019s Yuri Onishi and Finland\u2019s Noora Komulainen in T5 on level par.<\/p>\n LET rookies Sara Kjellker of Sweden and Amalie Leth-Nissen of Denmark ended the tournament in T7 on two-over-par.<\/p>\n While eight players finished in a share of ninth place with Belgium\u2019s Manon De Roey, Norway\u2019s Marianne Skarpnord, France\u2019s Emma Grechi, Spain\u2019s Marta Sanz Barrio, Italy\u2019s Virginia Elena Carta, Indian amateur Avani Prashanth, Wales\u2019 Becky Morgan and England\u2019s Cara Gainer all on three-over.<\/p>\n