Rogers (US), Aug 31: Indian golfing ace Aditi Ashok finished tied 49th at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship after carding two-under 69 in the final round here.
Aditi, who was playing her first LPGA event in the United States since the coronavirus outbreak, had three birdies against a sole bogey after starting from the 10th on Sunday. Her earlier rounds fetched her scores of 69-68 for a three-day total of five-under 208.
Austin Ernst closed with 8-under 63 to win the championship for her second LPGA Tour. She finished two strokes clear of Anna Nordqvist (69).
Aditi was coming off two weeks of Links golf in Scotland but her only other start on the LPGA in 2020 was in January at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Raton, where she missed the cut.
It was Aditi’s first cut on the LPGA in 2020. Her best starts of the year have come on Ladies European Tour and in Australia, where she tied 4th at New South Wales Open and tied 24th at the Ladies Classic, Bonville.
Four strokes behind Nordqvist entering the round, Ernst had the best score of the day, making 10 birdies and two bogeys at Pinnacle Country Club.
Nordqvist closed with a 69 after opening with rounds of 64 and 62. Ernst opened with consecutive 65s to put herself in position to win for the first time in 144 starts since the 2014 Portland Classic.
The 28-year-old former LSU player also won the 2011 NCAA individual title.
Angela Stanford (65) and Nelly Korda (67) tied for third at 16 under. Jenny Shin (68) and Sei Young Kim (69) were 15 under. (PTI)
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