Aditi Ashok made her first cut in a Major with a second round three-under 69 and then proceeded to compile a no-frills 72 in the third at the ANA Inspiration golf tournament at California on Sunday, reported PTI.
With an aggregate of three-under 213, Aditi is now at a creditable Tied-23 position, 10 shots behind the 2014 champion Lexi Thompson who sits atop a packed leaderboard at 13-under par after 54 holes.
Aditi, who turned 19 a day before the event, has now carded 72-69-72. Lexi leads Suzann Pettersen by two-strokes and has a large group of pursuers within five shots of the lead.
Aditi, who is playing the LPGA Tour this year on a limited status, was once again accurate off the tees as she has found over 75% of the fairways in three rounds. She needed 28 putts in the third round, as against 25 in second, but as on the second day, she found only 10 of the 18 greens in regulation.
Yet, as tied-23rd, she has a great chance to make a bid for her first Top-15 in the Majors, as she sits just two shots away from the eight-player bunch at five-under.
Aditi’s only appearance on the LPGA this season saw her finish tied-52nd at the Women’s Australian Open. It is only the fifth career start on the LPGA tour for Aditi, which include a missed cut at her Major debut in Women’s British Open in 2016.
Meanwhile, Thompson is looking to take another leap into Poppie’s Pond and pick up her second major championship and her first win of the 2017 season. She carded six birdies on the day to finish at 5-under, hitting 18 of 18 greens in regulation.
Pettersen, the 15-time LPGA tour winner has finished in the top-10 at Mission Hills seven times, including three times a runner-up.
Pettersen, whose last victory came at the 2015 Manulife LPGA Classic, had two bogeys and six birdies to card a 4-under 68 in her third round. Mi Jung Hur, Minjee Lee, Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu sit three back of Thompson at 10-under par.