Aditi tied-26 in Canberra

Canberra, February 9

Aditi Ashok salvaged her first round with a super back nine as she birdied three of the last five holes to finish with a card of 1-under 71 and in tied-26th place at the end of the first round of ActewAGL Canberra Classic here today.

Aditi had two bogeys in first five holes but birdied on sixth and turned in one-over. 

A bogey on 13th meant she was two over, but birdies on 14th, 16th and 18th saw her come under par. Aditi was paired with Beth Allen and Caroline Hedwall.

Among other Indians, Amandeep Drall (74) was tied-65th, Gaurika Bishnoi (75) was tied-87, while Vani Kapoor (81) was tied-134th.

Former world number one Jiyai Shin of South Korea produced eight birdies in an opening round of seven-under-par 65 to claim a two-shot lead. Shin won the 2013 Women's Australian Open at Royal Canberra.

A late surge kept last week's Oates Vic Open champion Minjee Lee of Australia in touch and she lies in joint second alongside Leticia Ras-Anderica of Germany and Norwegian rookie Karoline Lund on 5-under-par 67.

First round play was suspended for nearly 40 minutes due to the threat of thunderstorms, and play continued in overcast and humid conditions. — PTI