Aditi Ashok is coming off an incredible 2023, one in which she soared from 194th in the world ranking to finish the year at a career-best 39th. And as she starts her new season at this week’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International, the Bengaluru ace is confident 2024 will be even better.
The 25-year-old narrowly managed to keep her card on the LPGA Tour in 2022 after finishing 99th in the Race to CME Globe, which led to a lot of introspection and hard work over the offseason. It all paid off spectacularly as she started 2023 with a win in Kenya, and bookended it with another win in Spain to finish fourth in the Ladies European Tour’s Race to Costa Del Sol.
In between, she had a solid season on the LPGA. With just six top-10s in her first six years on the Tour, she nearly doubled that number with five top-10s during the year, including a playoff loss in the LA Open, and was 41st in the Order of Merit despite playing only 20 tournaments.
The only disappointment was the silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games. Silver is not a colour to scoff at, but Aditi shot a 5-over 77 in the final round – her worst round of the season – to lose grasp on what seemed like a sure-shot gold for India.
Speaking to Hindustan Times ahead of the $5 million Aramco Saudi Ladies International, where she finished second last year against a stacked field that included superstar Lydia Ko, the eventual champion, Aditi said she needed to do something dramatic with her game for 2023 to happen.
“It was a breakthrough year for me. I did win in my rookie season, so you can call that a breakthrough year as well, but this felt the same. I had five top-10s on LPGA last year, which just showed how much improvement I made in that one year and I didn’t even play as much as I could (20 events); because of the Asian Games, I took a few weeks off,” said Aditi.
“It was very satisfying to see how much the hard work in the offseason made a difference. Sometimes you work hard, but you just don’t see the gains. And last year, I got to see the gains of all that three, four months of speed training and just trying to hit the ball further.
“I was a short hitter and now I’m closer to average. It’s not a big difference, but it’s huge for me because instead of hitting my third shots from 80-100 yards, I’m now chipping from 30-40 yards and giving myself more birdie chances. I am hitting shorter irons into par-4s compared to a hybrid. And I have also improved considerably in my greens in regulation.”
Driving Accuracy, rather than Driving Distance, always used to be the key stat for Aditi, who is blessed with one of the best short games in the business. But after 2022, she sat down with her coach Gaurav Diwan and singled out lack of length as the main reason for her lack of better results.
“Until the end of 2022, I never really put myself in a position to win. I was never really sniffing the leaderboard. And that was my goal for 2023. It made me think hard on what I needed to fix in my game,” said Aditi.
“I always felt happy I could drive the ball straight. I was forced to change and try new things. I shifted the focus to my driving, and specifically to improve my swing speed. It was not natural for me to walk into the driving range and practice drives. I’d rather spend more time on the putting green or short game area.
“I worked hard in the gym and with speed sticks and added nearly five miles speed to my swing. It meant I was getting an additional carry of almost 15 yards in the air.
“I haven’t won on LPGA yet, but I know I am on the right track. I know I can win in the US. The victory in Spain gave me so much confidence. I just have to stay patient.”
Like every good golfer, Aditi has had her fair share of narrow misses, but the one at Hangzhou left her disappointed. And it wasn’t for her own sake.
“That was so disappointing. It took me a bit to get over that because at Hangzhou you were not just playing for yourself,” said Aditi, who also narrowly missed out on a podium finish at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, where she finished fourth.
“When I finished second in Saudi, or LA, I am sure only die-hard golf fans felt bad. It’s not the same when you play for your country and when everyone is expecting a gold medal. I knew it meant a lot more to people and young kids back home, who would never have watched golf otherwise but sat through the telecast.
“Some days you play great and some days you don’t. It’s human nature to question a five-over, but we don’t question why we shot a 10-under. That final round was one of the worst rounds I shot last year, and I told myself it was just a bad day. Maybe, it was my bad luck that it came on the final day when I was trying to win.
“The year finally felt a lot better when I won in Spain, my first win on European soil.”
(A more detailed interview of Aditi Ashok will be published in Monday’s Fairways & Greens newsletter)
