WOMEN'S OLYMPIC GOLF COMPETITION

August 7, 2024

Aditi Ashok

Le Golf National

Quick Quotes

Q. If you can sum up your round first?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, I think it was a good Kaye for me. Because it was tough initially with the wind and it's tough to judge the yardages and manage the wind, too. I started off pretty good, actually. That set the round. Except for the last, I didn't make many mistakes. Overall, a good day.

Q. What happened on the last?

ADITI ASHOK: I hit a bad drive. I hit a bad second shot. I hit a bad third shot. So not much good happened there. But I think I was just, you know, on the tee, I was trying to hit a good drive because I knew it was reachable, I think maybe that's what -- because apart from that drive, I think I hit almost every fairway today. I had a lay up and laid up in the right rough. From there it was tricky. I didn't want to lay up to make up-and-down for par, so I tried, and then went in the water. 7.

Q. Four on the green?

ADITI ASHOK: Five. On a par 5.

Q. As much as we care about your round, we also care about your trip. How did that go?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, it was okay. It actually worked out good because I didn't get a super late tee time in Portland. It was 12.20 and my flight was at 7.15. So it wasn't too bad. I just had to rush after my round to make the flight.

But yeah, I managed to do it.

Q. How much time did you have?

ADITI ASHOK: Well, I holed out I think at 4.10. So not a lot. My dad ran to the car to pack the golf bag and then showered and straight to the airport. We checked in at 4.50 which wasn't too bad. I got my bags in London. Bags were the I imagine concern.

Q. Two separate flights?

ADITI ASHOK: Yes.

Q. Because of the bags?

ADITI ASHOK: I wanted to make sure I picked my bags up at London and then a different flight from London to Paris.

Q. And accreditation was closed?

ADITI ASHOK: At the airport. So then I had to go back to the Village which is an extra hour but eventually got to the room at like 11.30. I was so tired. I slept through the whole night which was.

Q. You didn't need to think about golf.

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah.

Q. What's the energy level like?

ADITI ASHOK: Actually today wasn't great. When I got here on Monday, I slept through the night, so probably because I was tired from the round and the travel, and so I thought, okay, I slept the whole night, so I figured this out.

But then last night, I was up at 1.00am to like 4.00am. I haven't figured it out yet but hopefully it gets better as the week goes on. Not at a hundred per cent but close enough.

Q. Are you surprised how well you've played given the fatigue?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, a little bit. But also I think because I didn't know a lot about the golf course, like the rough around certain parts of the green and how the rough was off certain fairways. I kind of kept it simple for the most part.

Sometimes I feel like I was too defensive but I think with the way the course was set up today and the wind, that actually helped me because I was just making pars when some people were maybe dropping shots that. Actually worked out except for the last hole.

Q. Why did you play Portland?

ADITI ASHOK: I like the golf course. It's a lot like the golf courses I grew up on, tree-lined, not a lot of water hazards. The greens are really quick. I've just always liked it. I don't know if we go back there. It might be the last year we play there.

I'm going to go home after the British Open, so I wanted to get in as many tournaments before that.

Q. Playing Scottish?

ADITI ASHOK: Scottish, British and home.

Q. How many times have you been reminded of Tokyo the last two weeks?

ADITI ASHOK: A lot. I think generally my whole -- after Tokyo, I would say people know me majority because of that week. It's the one thing people know me for, and I understand why, I think that's where I got the most exposure. People bring it up a lot.

Q. Is it motivation or baggage?

ADITI ASHOK: Neither. For me it's just a week of golf play played great and putted amazing. At the time I was disappointed but I think the more removed I am from the week, I think the more amazing I realise I played that he can that week. Because I wasn't hitting the ball far. As it is I'm a short hitter and I was hitting it even shorter because I had COVID a month before that.

Yeah, with all of that, just being able to compete with former world No. 1, current world No. 1, Lydia was a medalist in Rio. So that was pretty cool. Yeah, didn't get it done but I think it was a great week.

Q. Despite the medal not being there, what you did for Indian golf that week, was that very satisfying?

ADITI ASHOK: Yeah, for sure. I didn't expect that at the beginning of the week and of course with it being COVID rules and regulations, not a lot of exposure, I didn't know how big it would be in India.

But yeah to see it become that widespread and to know people woke up early in the morning to watch me play, not just golfers, but the average person who doesn't know golf, that meant a lot to me.

Q. Twitter went up 200 per cent or 800 per cent.

ADITI ASHOK: That, too, yeah. I'm not much of a social media person but yeah.

Q. What told you that it was big in India that week?

ADITI ASHOK: I think Tweets from like the prime minister, the president, too, but the prime minister, he's probably the most important in India and he Tweeted. So that was pretty cool.

Q. Did you get much of a look at the course yesterday?

ADITI ASHOK: I was just on the range for a couple hours, that's it.

Q. So you saw the first course time at 9.22 morning?

ADITI ASHOK: Yes, for this week but I played a couple practise round before Evian. So I have seen the course.