Solid start for Aditi Ashok in France, lies T-7 after first round

Indian golfer Aditi Ashok got off to one of her finest starts in a Major, carding a 4-under 67 in the opening round of the Amundi Evian Championship. Playing her 35th Major, the most by any Indian golfer, male or female, Aditi was just two shots off the lead at T-7th She birdied the first, seventh and the ninth to turn in 3-under and then added a fourth birdie on the 11th. She had one more birdie on the 14th but before that dropped her lone bogey of the day on the 13th.

Aditi had recorded her best-ever finish in a Major at here last year, finishing tied-17th. With a strong opening round, she has put herself in contention for an even better result this time. Diksha Dagar just missed making the draw but will play at the AIG Women’s Open later this month. Aditi was two shots behind the five leaders, Ireland’s Leona Maguire, American duo Jennifer Kupcho and Andrea Lee, Australians Gabriela Ruffels and Grace Kim. All of them carded 6-under 65s.

Maguire delivered an impressive performance for her opening round, highlighted by a hole-in-one at the par-3 second hole using an 8-iron. The LET winner, who plays on both the LPGA and LET, dropped her only shot of the day on the 10th, but made up for it with five birdies across her round. Lee carded seven birdies across the first 18 holes. While Ruffels had a bogey-free 66 that featured six birdies.

Fellow Aussie Kim went bogey-free for the first 18 holes, carding seven birdies to her name to join the lead on day one. Kupcho, who started the day on the 10th tee, finished up her last two holes with a birdie and an eagle to make it also six-under par, and join the leaders. A total of nine players sit in a tie for seventh place, all firing opening rounds of four under par.

South Africa's Casandra Alexander, Germany’s Helen Briem, America’s Nelly Korda, Japan’s Ayaka Furue, Aditi , Korean duo Hye-Jin Choi and Somi Lee, Japan’s Mao Saigo, and China’s Mary Liu are only a further shot back. PTI