Aditi Ashok triumphs at the Magical Kenya Ladies Open 2023 to win the tournament by nine strokes to capture her fourth title on the LET.
The Indian champion took a wire-to-wire victory at Vipingo Ridge. A score of 74 shots (+1) on the final day was more than enough for victory.
It was a difficult afternoon for the 24-year-old, with three bogeys and two birdies scored on the final round score, but the excellent results reported in the first three days of competition ensured her a large margin of victory.
Aditi Ashok, statements
“It’s been a great week, a proof to myself that my off-season and hard work has paid off,” said Ashok.
Alice Hewson of England and April Angurasaranee of Thailand finished tied for 2nd, with a score of 3 under PAR.
Hewson, winner of the LET and 12th in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol, finished the first leg of the season with a 72 finish, with ups and downs (6 bogeys and 5 birdies) on the score.
The Australian Gabriela Ruffels earned the 4th place, solo, with a score of 2 under PAR, while the Japanese Yuri Onishi and the Finnish Noora Komulainen share the 5th place tied, finishing the event in PAR.
A good result for the two newcomers on the Ladies European Tour: the Swedish Sara Kjellker and the Danish Amalie Leth-Nissen conquer the 7th place on the leaderboard.
Eight players finished in 9th place: Manon De Roey of Belgium, Marianne Skarpnord of Norway, Emma Grechi of France, Marta Sanz Barrio of Spain, Indian amateur Avani Prashanth, Becky Morgan of Welsh, Cara Gainer of England and blue Virginia Elena Carta, all at +3.
The results were excellent for all three blue stars present at the event, who passed the cut, set at +9.
Virginia Elena Carta delivered a splendid final score of 72 shots (-1). She started with some difficulty on the first nine holes, she scored four birdies in a row from hole 10 to 13, which brought her into the top 10.
20th position for Clara Manzalini, at +5 total, while Alessandra Fanali closed her first event as a proette on the Tour with a +10, in 38th position.
The 2023 season for the major European women’s circuit starts from Kenya with the Magical Kenya Ladies Open.
The 96 players representing 28 different countries will compete from February 2 to 5 at Vipingo Ridge and, more precisely, on the Baobab Course in Kilifi County. This is the third time the course has hosted a Ladies European Tour race.
The players will compete for a prize pool of 300,000 euros over a distance of 72 holes, with a cut after the first 36. The tournament also marks the start of the Race to Costa del Sol 2023, in its fourth edition, which will see the best golfer on the Circuit crowned at the end of the year.
The field is top-notch for the season-opening event and includes defending champion Esther Henseleit, who won the Order of Merit in 2019 and will be looking for her third victory in Kenya after those in 2019 and 2022.
Three of the top five in the 2022 Race to Costa del Sol will also be on the field: Johanna Gustavsson (3rd), Manon De Roey (4th) and Ana Peláez Trivino (5th).
We will closely follow the three blue women registered for the event: Virginia Elena Carta, Clara Manzalini and, in her professional debut on this circuit, Alessandra Fanali.
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