ARAMCO SAUDI LADIES INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY PUBLIC INVESTMENT FUND

February 17, 2023

Aditi Ashok

Royal Greens Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. A brilliant round of 66 to be leading by two. Talk me through your front nine. That was a tournament record, 29. Could you believe how well you were putting?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, I think it was just whenever I stepped to the ball I just knew the ball was going in. Just one of those days where everything works in your favor. Yeah, the front nine was definitely like that.

Q. How do you play like that? What's the secret to holing so many good putts?

ADITI ASHOK: I don't know. I just get on it, read the line, and try and putt it on this line. It's not that complicated. Doesn't work too sometimes, but today worked.

Q. We're making golf way too complicated. Two-shot lead going into the weekend, but you've got a power packed leaderboard, some great players. What are you going to do? What are you going to focus on over the next couple days?

ADITI ASHOK: Nothing much. Just keep giving myself the birdie putts I've been giving the past two days. Just more birdie chances, more birdie putts that favors my style of golf.

And generally keeping it -- you know, hitting fairways and greens keeps the big numbers out of play and keeps the mistakes off the card, so just trying to do more of that.

Q. It's been an amazing start for you winning in Kenya and doing well last week. What's been one point of difference, would you say?

ADITI ASHOK: I think I worked a lot on my driving, just hitting balls in general. Yeah, more on my driving, just trying to get my body to swing faster. Just went to the gym a lot. I guess after last year, I traveled so much I lost some weight, so I was trying to gain that weight back.

I'm nowhere near what I want to be. It's a work in progress. Yeah, definitely it's a little bit of a difference from how I ended last year. I'm definitely hitting it a bit further than that.

Q. A little bit of a difference but, wow, you're at the top of the leaderboard once again. Well played.

ADITI ASHOK: Thank you.

Q. Well done. Obviously a couple of highlights on that highlight reel package from your front nine. One is the bunker shot on 18. Talk me through that.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, I was just trying to aim a little left because the wind was off the left for that birdie shot. I struggled a bit on my short game in general the past three weeks, but I think my bunker shots have been I guess the best part so far of my short game.

I was kind of happy that I hit it two on, but I missed and I had a bunker shot. That was kind of the play for me. Yeah, just a perfect shot and one of those days where the ball just wants to get in the hole.

Q. Obviously a tougher back nine for you, but you finished with a birdie. Talk me through the last hole.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, last hole was actually -- I didn't even think it was reachable because the wind, it was so windy. After I hit the drive I figured that I could get a 3-wood to the front and I did. I didn't hit a great chip, like maybe eight feet, but still, eight-, nine-footer for birdie, which I holed, which I think that's where hitting longer kind of helps sometimes.

If I had to layup I don't know if in this wind I would've wedged it to eight feet. Sometimes a bad ship is still better than an 80-yard wedge.

Yeah, I'm glad I could get a 3-wood up to the front and finish with the birdie. Yeah, the back nine was going -- I don't think I had many looks at birdie until 8 and 9, so glad to make the one on 9.

Q. How are you going to continue the momentum off that birdie into tomorrow?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, yeah, of course. I'm just going to try and focus on doing the same stuff I've done. I've played the par-5s pretty good. Just try and focus on that. The rest of the time just hit fairways and greens, get myself the birdie putts. Sometimes I hit a good putt and it goes in, but it's important to have the birdie putts all day.