BANK OF HOPE LPGA MATCH-PLAY

May 25, 2022

Aditi Ashok

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Aditi Ashok. Tell me, you were 52 seed playing a 13 seed and you came out with a really good victory. Were you intimidated at all before the match?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, I mean, a little bit. Obviously Lizette is a great player and I enjoyed the match today. I feel like I started really solid, didn't make many mistakes, and I made a couple birdies, which was good.

So, yeah, that kind of got me the momentum. I feel like towards the middle, end I didn't play as good. I feel like the momentum I had in the beginning of the round carried me basically to a win.

Q. And you finished 3&1. So I want to know, do you have a lot of experience in match play? Is this your first experience with match play?

ADITI ASHOK: Well, I used to play my national amateur event which used to be match play and I played a lot of girls British and ladies British, but not a whole lot compared to some other girls.

I've had a little bit I guess.

Q. So tell me, do you like this format? What do you think of match play?

ADITI ASHOK: I think it's interesting. In some ways it's different compared to stroke play so I'm not really used to it, used to the way of thinking in match play. But I think I feel like the bad shots I hit didn't get penalized as much.

I feel like one shot on the LPGA is a lot more penalizing than losing one hole in a match. I feel like that kind of helped me stay grounded today. I knew if I hit a couple bad shots it wasn't going to cost me a whole lot.

Q. So you've had a couple we'll say interesting experiences this week and last week.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah.

Q. So just coming from Europe. You played on the Ladies European Tour, correct?

ADITI ASHOK: Yes.

Q. Jet lagged? How are you feeling? And also last week you made your first hole in one.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, that was cool. I've never had a hole in one an professional so making a hole in one was cool. Yeah, I think jet lag is not so bad now. Just waking up early, which is not a bad thing. So jet lag is okay.

It was just getting the clubs on time, which got delayed so I didn't get a practice round. Today the front nine, I hadn't seen it. I just walked it on the practice day but hadn't played the front nine until the match.

Considering that I think I played the front nine pretty okay.

Q. I was just going to mention that. You just got your clubs yesterday morning.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah.

Q. And were able to play the back nine in the pro-am.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah.

Q. Did that give you any anxiety at all that your clubs weren't there yet on practice day? What were you thinking?

ADITI ASHOK: I didn't -- I mean, as long as they were going to be there by tournament day I was fine. I didn't have any anxiety about not having to play a practice round with them.

As a pro you just get used to making a game plan and sticking to it. It's just I had one pro-am day of nine holes, so I just accepted that that's all I was going to get on the course and just made due with it I guess.

Q. Like I said, you had the challenge of coming from Europe and missing your clubs. Besides those, what other challenges did you find on the course today?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, I feel like this golf course -- obviously I never played this course but it's really different and firm and fast. I think it was a bit of an adjustment having to play for the ball to release a lot. I'm not used to that, or at least I'm not used to seeing the ball release that much.

The greens are really hard and firm, so I feel like the fast greens kind of help me putt better. I usually putt better when the greens are really quick. That was good thing, too.

Q. And speaking of the course, Shadow Creek is sort of known for its exclusivity and secrecy.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah.

Q. What did you know about the course before coming out? Was it different than you expected?

ADITI ASHOK: I didn't really know much about it. I just knew about the match that happened here, Tiger and Phil. Apart from that, I didn't know much about it.

I really like the golf course. It's obviously in great condition. Because it's a desert you never really know how the grass or the rough is going to be, but the rough is really demanding, especially around the greens.

You don't expect it to be that grabby or sticky in such dry weather, but it is. I think it's a really good golf course and I'm excited to play tomorrow and the next days.

Q. Speaking of, it is the desert. It's pretty hot and you played a fair few holes today.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah.

Q. Tell me, what are you going to do to prepare for tomorrow? Hopefully get some water in you.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah. I think the heat is not -- I'm kind of used to the heat growing up in India, so that's not a big thing. Yeah, just eat good food, because I think I missed meal couple days ago because I was jet lagged.

So just staying on top of eating and hydration and I should be good.

Q. Looking forward to a lot of golf hopefully this week.

ADITI ASHOK: Hopefully.

Q. How are you -- what's the strategy going forward? What did you learn today that you're going to take into the next couple rounds?

ADITI ASHOK: I think my strategy changes, depends on who I'm playing. Overall I've been driving it really good, so I want to focus on that, because the course is -- a lot of girls hit it far so I got hit it straight as well.

So I'm going to try and hit every fairway, yeah. The greens are really small, so if I focus on hitting the green instead of hitting at every single pin, I think I'll have a good chance of having a birdie putt on every pole.

Q. A lot of players have been saying that match play allows them to be more aggressive with the shots they're taking because if you don't make par it's okay sometimes.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah.

Q. Have you felt like you're going to be more aggressive this week or are you a little more reserved?

ADITI ASHOK: Again, depends on what my opponent does on each hole. Yeah, I kind of agree with that mindset, because couple times you when I was thinking about going for the green in two on a par-5, obviously it's easier to make that decision in match play because you know it's not going to cost you much and you have that room for error because you're just playing against one person.

So, yeah, I agree with that logic, but depends on who I'm playing and how they're hitting and the how the match is going.

Q. Taking it round by round?

ADITI ASHOK: Yes, exactly.

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