Lacklustre Aditi fires 78 to lie tied-39

 Aditi Ashok suffered a nightmarish four-hole streak in blustery conditions with four bogeys between the sixth and ninth holes on the front as she carded five-over 78 in the third round of the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open at Royal Adelaide Golf Club.

Aditi, who shot 73-70 in first two rounds at the Par-73 Royal Adelaide Golf Club, is now tied-56th in her first appearance in a LPGA event in 2017. The Bengaluru girl was tied-39 after second round.

On Saturday, Aditi opened with a bogey, but made amends with a birdie on third, only to drop four in a row from sixth to ninth. Further birdies on 13th and 14th and a birdie on 17th was a small consolation.

American Lizette Salas shot a superb 2-under par 71 to take a two-stroke lead at 10-under 209 into Sunday’s final round.

The 27-year-old carded her third consecutive under-par round on a day when many struggled with gusty winds.

No play for Lahiri

Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri had to sit and wait as wind, rain and snapping of large tree limbs stopped play in the second round of the Genesis Open.

Lahiri shot a one-under 71 in first round and was lying tied 51st at the Riviera.
Sam Saunders remained atop the leaderboard without ever hitting a shot at Riviera. He carded 64 on first day and he was joined by Jhonattan Vegas who completed his first round on Saturday morning.

The wind made it difficult to pick the right club and the rain made it hard to gauge the speed on the greens. But finally, it was the cracking of a Eucalyptus tree that made PGA Tour officials call off play.