CHENNAI: There is no word that has been as abused as ‘great’. The Oxford dictionary describes it as “… of ability, quality or eminence considerably above average.” Yet, the word has been attributed to talk about the achievement of your average Joe for a long time.
But there is no reason to cringe when Aditi Ashok uses the exact same word to describe her win at the Women’s Indian Open. She says it is great. She’s saying it in a different context. Even otherwise, Aditi’s breakout year has been great — with a capital G.
Here’s a sample of her achievements since January 1, when she turned professional.
The first Indian woman to win the Indian Open, five top 10 finishes on the Ladies European Tour (ranked fourth this year in this category), first in the Rookie of the Year rankings with two events to go and ninth on the Order of Merit.
There was also the small matter of sitting for her Class XII board exams in May and you get the measure of what she has done.Here, in a chat with Express, she talks about the year, her time at the Olympics and the influence her mother has had so far. Excerpts…
Indian Open triumph
It is great to win my first tournament (as a professional). I guess it has sort of sunk in now. It was my goal and my year has been great so far. I got to play at the Olympics. I had four consecutive top 10s after that. I came close enough (to win a few tournaments during the year) and finally I got the win. So I am really happy right now.
2016 and differences between amateur and professional
You play on different golf courses and you are in a different country every other week. A lot of travelling. I did travel at least 8-10 times abroad to play in amateur events but this year has been very difficult. Last week was my sixth (event) in a row so there has been a lot of travelling. But it has still been good. I won Q-School so I was confident coming into the season. I have two more events coming up and hopefully use those to improve my position in the Order of Merit (currently ninth) and try and win Rookie of the Year (currently first).
Aim to win Rookie of the Year
Yes, it was one of my targets. That’s the most important thing for any rookie — the one accolade all rookies aim for. To be the best and I am really close to doing that. I can say the victory came at the right time (she went from third to first).
Olympic experience
It was pretty good. I couldn’t stay for long as I had to leave for the LPGA Q-School 1st stage right after the Olympics. Ever since golf was announced I wanted to make it happen. I wanted to play for India and I worked towards it, trying to play professional tournaments as an amateur. Somehow I made it happen. I did really well on the first two days. I was in the top three.
I didn’t do well on the last two days but it was still pretty good experience and obviously Olympics is the biggest sporting event and I got to represent golf for the first time. I pretty much held my own against the best golfers in the world and that gave me confidence. That confidence rubbed off because I got four top 10s after the Games.
Parents’ influence
Mom has helped me plan my whole career. She was the one who sort of laid the road map for me. She definitely helped me a lot in that sense. Right now, she still manages me. Both my parents have helped me a lot. My dad caddies for me, he caddied for me at the Olympics. Apart from myself, he knows my game the best.
swaroop@newindianexpress.com