Dubai: Rookie of the Year Aditi Ashok ended 2016 on a high with her third top five finish of the season at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters on Saturday.
The 18-year-old from tech city of Bengaluru in India shot three consecutive 70s to finish tied for third at six-under for the tournament four strokes off the lead.
It ends her year with seven top-10 finishes, three of which were top fives including two wins — which came back-to-back last month in India and Qatar from 15 appearances this season.
If she had won here, she would have been the first player on the European Tour to win three in a row since France’s Marie-Laure de Lorenzi in 1989.
“I’m happy I shot two-under three days in a row,” said Aditi, who also finished second in the Order of Merit behind Beth Allen. “I feel it was consistent but it could have been better. But there’s always something you can do better every week, so it’s fine, I’m tied for third and I’m happy with that.”
Aditi had flown to Dubai straight from Q-School in Florida this week where she had earned a conditional card for next season’s LPGA Tour. Considering the amount of travelling she has had to do, she said she was pleased with her performance.
“Overall I think I exceeded expectations this week. I didn’t really have a practice round, which made it difficult. I made four birdies every day and a couple of mistakes every day too. But too finish the year with a top five is not bad.”
Meanwhile, Order of Merit winner Beth Allen said before the final day that she didn’t want Shanshan Feng to win.
Although Allen had already wrapped up the money-list, Shanshan would overtake her with victory in Dubai. It didn’t matter anyway as Shanshan hadn’t played in enough events this season to qualify for the prize, but Allen felt it had weakened her achievement.
“It matters, I’m gutted,” she said. “Of course, I wish I could have made more money than her. But at the end of the day, to be a member, you have to play in six events and I support the Tour 100 per cent. Because of that I guess I deserve it but I wish things were different.”
