Make way for 'Tigress' Aditi

The Indian prodigy's debut season on the Ladies European Tour has been nothing short of remarkable.

With all due respect to Cheyenne Woods, Aditi Ashok might well turn out to be the 'Tiger Woods' of women's golf.
The Indian prodigy's debut season on the Ladies European Tour (LET) has been nothing short of remarkable. With two wins already since she turned pro at the start of this year, the 18-year-old has put some big names on the LET to shade to be second on the Order of Merit.
And that has meant that the Bangalorean, who has notched back-to-back wins - the Hero Women's Indian Open and the inaugural Qatar Ladies Open - has also won the Rookie of the Year.
She was impressive to say the least at the Rio Olympics although the end result - a 41st place finish out of 60 golfers - may say a different story.
But in a field that included some of the top women golfers, Aditi did hold the lead briefly when she shot a seven-under. Glimpse of a medal did come across the horizon before she ended up being like valiant gymnast Dipa Karmakar - won hearts but didn't win a medal.
Nonetheless, for a country so obsessed with cricket, young guns and especially women like Aditi has provided a sporting hero that we can now look up to.
It has come all too thick and fast for Aditi but she has a cool head on those shoulders and has her feet firmly on the ground, hallmarks which belies her age.
And she's glad that golf, especially women's golf has attracted the attention of the Indian landscape.
"Obviously, there is a lot of attention, especially since the Olympics. A lot of people want to write about me because I'm an Olympian, and not just part of women's golf. In that sense, I think women's golf is getting more popular in India. I think it's good and I just try and deal with it the best that I can," said Aditi.
Aditi termed it a great year and said that she achieved her goal of winning in her rookie year and it got all the more better as she won two.
"It's been a great year, obviously. It was a goal to win in my rookie year and I got two wins back-to-back and that was really good, and winning in my home country, as well, that was quite a lot of fun," Aditi said.
"I've been playing pretty well through the year and I got a conditional card on the LPGA. I would have liked to get full status but still it's not bad. I've had a pretty good year," she added.
As for her goals for next year, she said: "Obviously majors are really big and I want to do well in them. I think they are the ultimate test in golf for any golfer to do well at a major, because the world's best are there and to do well there assures you that you're a good golfer. I'm hoping that I can get into all of them but if not, any that I get into, I'm going to try to do well in those next year."
It is just the start and the world beckons for Aditi.
"I think I could still get a lot sharper with my approaches compared to how I am right now. And plus in the US, the courses are going to be slightly longer, so I'm going to have to get really good with my approaches, and also work on hitting it further. That's a continuous process," she felt.
james@khaleejtimes.com