Vipingo Ridge, Kenya, February 6, 2023: India’s two-time Olympic golfer Aditi Ashok has described her runaway victory in the 2023 Magical Kenya Ladies Open as an “exciting start” to the new year.
The 24-year-old golfer from Bangalore won the Ladies European Tour event by nine shots to secure her fourth ELT title on Sunday, February 5.
“It has been a great week; it’s proof to myself that my off-season and hard work has paid off,” said Ashok, who made her Olympic Games debut at Rio 2016 and finished fourth at Tokyo 2020.
She also had time to appreciate the African wildlife during her time on the course, despite the pressure of tournament golf.
“That was cool to have the giraffes there; it’s definitely different and part of the experience of playing in Kenya. It was cool to see giraffes – I don’t think I’ve ever seen them that close before.”
It was Ashok’s first trip to the winner’s 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.
She added: “It was good to have my dad on the bag – three of my wins have been with him caddying, but not just him there’s my mum back home and I have worked a lot with my coach and my fitness team.
“All 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’ve felt like I’ve been back to where I was a couple of years ago which is pretty good.”
Later, in a social media post, Ashok commented: “So happy to win again on the Ladies European Tour. Thanks to event sponsors for a successful event. Thanks also to volunteers, fans and special shoutout to the staff at Vipingo Ridge and greens-keeping team for giving us a great venue despite struggles with water.
“Exciting start to 2023 with a win at Magical Kenya Ladies Open and it’s been a special week indeed. In gratitude to my team and my sponsors Radisson Hotels Americas and Hyundai India for their support.”