Aditi Ashok: Putting with perspective

At the Paris Olympics, Aditi Ashok will make a third appearance at the quadrennial event after Rio and Tokyo. The putter from Bengaluru has qualified for the event via world rankings where she was placed 24th in Olympic Golf Rankings out of 60 aspirants.

Aditi turned heads with her fantastic performance in the last three days of the Tokyo Olympics, where she nearly secured a podium finish.

As a front-runner to claim a silver medal by the end of the penultimate day of the golf event, Aditi woke fans up at the crack of dawn to watch her play. Sadly, self-destruction ensued and the Indian finished fourth.

Despite not winning a medal, she quickly became a household name in India.

Recognition and fame haven't come easy and Aditi has had to work hard to stay afloat and pursue her passion for golf.

Tenacious Teen

Aditi Ashok’s love for golf started at the age of five in Bengaluru, where she was born and raised. She got hooked on the sport when she visited the Karnataka Golf Association with her father. Seeing the lush green course, she was hooked on the sport.

Aditi, coming from a middle-class family and studying at Frank Anthony Public School, had to be mindful of her studies while also playing the sport she loved. She gradually started practicing golf after school hours and began participating in local tournaments.

Aditi never really looked back after appearing in local tournaments. As a teenager, she continued to find success owing to the hard work she put in. That she was a tenacious teenager also helped the cause.

Her efforts paid off when she won both the Karnataka Junior and South Indian Junior Championships back-to-back in 2011. The national amateur title was also bagged by her in the same year. All this at just 13 years of age.

Aditi quickly became a teenage sensation in golf when she won the National Junior Championships consecutively in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

During this period, she became the lone Indian golfer to represent India at the Asian Youth Games in 2013 in Nanjing, which served as a dress rehearsal for the following year’s Nanjing Youth Olympics in 2014, and the Asian Games in 2014 in Incheon.

Additionally, she held both junior and senior titles in 2014. These outcomes duly paved the way for her to turn professional.

Youngest woman golfer at Rio

Aditi’s amateur career reached its zenith when she won the Ladies British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship in 2015. She remains the only Indian to have won the championship.

This was followed by her turning professional on New Year’s Day in 2016. Six months later, Aditi made history by becoming the youngest contender in the women’s golf event at the Rio Olympics at just 18 years of age.

Starting the Olympics ranked 57th out of 60, Aditi finished 41st, which, in retrospect, was a commendable effort considering her limited experience at the time

Putting her way to success

Soon after the Rio Olympics, she secured her ticket to participate in the Ladies European Tour for the 2016 season by winning the Lalla Aicha Tour School, the qualifying event for the European tour. In doing so, she became the youngest and the first Indian to achieve this.

She found immediate success by winning the Ladies European Tour (LET) title at the Indian Open, which she secured a ticket to participate in a few months earlier in 2016. This win put her in the spotlight among the national media.

Aditi won the Qatar Ladies Open two weeks later, and won the Rookie of the Year award, given to the leading first-year player on the Order of Merit rankings.

In 2017 Aditi made the switch to the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour card, which hosts tournaments primarily in the United States, marking a move from her previous association with the Ladies European Tour (LET).

She became the second player from India after Simi Mehra to be associated with LPGA.

Aditi returned to the LETs and finished second in 2019 after not finding much success on LPGA tours.

She also became the first female golfer from India to enter the top 50 in the world rankings, securing the 49th rank after finishing second in Saudi Aramco Ladies International.

So near yet so far

Aditi made her second Olympic appearance in Tokyo in 2021.

In the women’s individual stroke play event, ranked 200th in the world, she was in contention for a silver medal for most of the fourth and final round, closely behind Nelly Korda of the United States.

But Aditi finished fourth outside of the medal bracket after 72 holes, two shots behind the gold medal winner at the end of the round.

Aditi was gutted that she couldn’t win a medal for her country but she felt great knowing that many people followed golf because of her after the Olympics.

She mentioned that despite golf not being popular in India, her performance in Tokyo had attracted many viewers who were now interested in learning more about the sport.

Her remarkable performance captured the attention of Indian fans who woke up early to watch her fantastic run, bringing her fame and recognition.

Paris beckons

Since her Tokyo Olympic performance, Aditi has won two LET titles, including the Magical Kenya Ladies Open and the Spanish Women’s Cup, both in 2023.

She also secured a silver medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

However, her campaign in 2024 hasn’t turned out to be pretty good leading up to the Paris Olympics. With competition hot on her heels, she will have to start well and finish strong, unlike in Tokyo.

Nonetheless, her experience from the last two Olympics will be invaluable, especially as she is raring to make history by winning a medal for India in the most unlikely of sports.