LA Championship: India's Aditi Ashok finishes T2, achieves best finish on LPGA Tour

California [US], May 1 : Indian golfer Aditi Ashok finished joint T2 at the LA Championship 2023 golf tournament at the Wilshire Country Club in California on Sunday, achieving her best finish in an LPGA Tour event.

With a score of nine-under, the Indian golfer advanced to the playoffs, where she was defeated by Hannah Green of Australia.

Aditi, who nearly lost out on a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, started the event with a five-under-par first round and followed it up with a one-under-par second round to make her first cut of the season on tour.

However, a one-over par in the third round on Saturday saw her slip down. But the Indian golfer came back swinging in the final round with a four-under, carding five birdies and a lone bogey on the 17th hole, to finish as joint leaders on the board with Australia's Hannah Green and China's Xiyu Lin at nine-under overall.

In the playoffs, however, the 25-year-old Indian was eliminated on the first hole after making a par. Hannah Green went on to win the LA Championship title.

"I think overall it's a good week. I've never played in this position on the LPGA, to be near the lead on the first day and stay there the whole tournament. The competition is just so deep out here. Ten people have a good tournament but only one can win. I'm happy with the way I played," Aditi told the LPGA website, according to Olympics.com

The T2 position alongside Xiyu Lin is India's best finish on the LPGA Tour. Aditi Ashok has been competing in the LPGA for seven years. Her previous best was a T3 at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational golf in 2021.

The LA meet was Aditi' s fourth tournament of the year on the LPGA Tour. She had failed to make the cut in the previous three.