TRUST GOLF WOMEN'S SCOTTISH OPEN

August 11, 2021

Aditi Ashok

Dumbarnie Links

Press Conference

Q. It's been a couple days, we were just talking and you said you've calmed down but India is still on its heels. What have the last few days been like for you as you've travelled to Scotland?

ADITI ASHOK: I think it's been amazing, the amount of people that have shown support and tuned into the last day and even the third day because people weren't really going to, people don't really watch a lot of golf in India.

So to have so many people tune in was amazing and I'm thankful for the support and with my finish, with big superstars in sports in India Tweeting about, it and the prime minister and president Tweeting about it, it was awesome, and cool to see that my performance at the Olympics had such a big effect on golf in India and people hearing about it and Googling about it.

Q. After the final round, you talked about the Tweet from the president. When you looked at your phone and saw Tweets like that, what was the first thing you thought of?

ADITI ASHOK: Obviously you don't think just a fourth place at a regular tournament is never going to do that. It shows how much golf in Olympics can grow the sport, especially in India where the population is huge, but the golf community is very small.

So to make that community bigger and introduce kids to the sport or even have kids or people curious about golf, and maybe want to try it, that itself is amazing and see it on social media, amazing. My followership blew up a lot, and I didn't expect it to grow as big as it did. It was all good to see.

Q. When you looked at your phone and saw the president of India had Tweeted at you, were you like, "Oh, my gosh"?

ADITI ASHOK: Oh, yeah, president and prime minister, that was amazing to see their support. India is also changing now, slowly, it's trying to have athletes go to the Olympics and win medals, so to see them change and have them support athletes, too.

Q. Were there any other Indian athletes in the Olympic Village who knew who you were?

ADITI ASHOK: Maybe here and there, but the golf was towards the end of the Olympics, so not really. I just came back. I had to catch an early flight so I didn't get to spend much time in the village after my round, barely eight, ten hours.

Q. Did you know that you trended No. 1 in India on Twitter?

ADITI ASHOK: Oh, I heard that. I did not know that specifically, yeah, but that was cool to see as well. Just a lot going on after that final round.

Q. What's it like transitioning back to an LPGA Tour event when you come from something that you've gotten so much attention; I feel like you took the world by storm for the second Olympics in a row, and now transitioning back to that lifestyle again?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, the thing about golf, no matter what you did last week, it's a new week whether you played bad or you played good. It's a fresh opportunity and everyone is trying to prepare and learn the course and get ready by Thursday. That's all I'm trying to do.

I've obviously had not the best season on the LPGA so far. I had a couple of good finishes but nothing really spectacular. I'm hoping last week's confidence that it gave me in my game can kind of seep into my performances until the end of the year.

Q. We talked about your mom is on the bag this week. What was the experience like for her last week and what did she say about all this attention?

ADITI ASHOK: I'm just so happy because I wanted my mom to caddie because my dad did it the first Olympics, so I wanted her to be part of the experience. I knew her being inside the Irish Opens would get her to experience the whole thing.

I think it was hard with the heat and the weather. It was a demanding week physically on the caddies, as well, and she did a great job and I'm happy I played well with her on the bag.

Q. Nothing against your dad, but she's here this week; so maybe some good luck momentum as well?

ADITI ASHOK: Not really. I think both of them are really thankful that they do it for me and caddie for me whenever I feel like I need them. It's great to have that support as well because it keeps calm sometimes in those big events to have someone to talk to between shots. It's not always what advice you get on the bag caddying. It's the whole package. It's about just someone who can make you feel like yourself.

Q. Then we go from a course you didn't know in Japan to links. What's it like getting into this links golf course here?

ADITI ASHOK: It's interesting when you look at the dunes and bunkers and everything, but it's a different style of play from last week.

So I'm focused on hitting the low drives or getting used to the green speeds or getting used to the short game shots that you need around the greens. That's what I've been working on.