Malaga (Spain), Nov 27 (PTI) Defending champion Aditi Ashok will lead a strong Indian challenge at the season-ending Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España, starting Thursday.
Joining Aditi will be Diksha Dagar, a two-time LET winner, Pranavi Urs and Tvesa Malik, multiple winners on their home Tour, the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
Aditi will get her title defence underway alongside Belgium's Manon De Roey and England's Bronte Law.
Pranavi will play with Annabel Dimmock of England and Ana Pelaez Trivino of Spain, while Diksha tees off with Nastasia Nadaud of France and Agatha Sauzon, also of France.
Tvesa is drawn with Ines Laklalech of Morocco and Chloe Williams of Wales.
Last year, Aditi produced rounds of 69-68-68-66 at Real Club de Golf Las Brisas to win her fifth Ladies European Tour (LET) title by two strokes over Anne Van Dam.
Reflecting on her victory, the 26-year-old didn’t remember a lot of the tournament but was reminded by a recent post on the LET social media channels. Aditi recalled how she stayed patient on the final day in 2023.
"Actually, I forgot quite a lot of what happened last year because when I saw the highlight reel and I saw my scorecard, I realized, I made so many birdies coming in," she said.
"That final day was a bit of a test of patience for me because I felt like nothing was happening all day and then I finally dropped some putts and got the win.
"I always enjoy coming back to this tournament because even before I won, I played well here, I finished second once, I think top-five and top-ten a couple times. It was a good week."
This year's tournament is being played at a different venue with Real Club Guadalhorce Golf in Malaga hosting the event for the first time.
Aditi splits her time throughout the year playing on the LET and the LPGA Tour, however in the latter part of the year she has taken time out and spent a longer period at home.
"I was a little golfed out. I played a lot of weeks in a row this year and just felt like I needed a bit of a break, so, I just went home for five, six weeks and got enough practice in.
"I was excited for this week, but I just needed a few weeks off to just go to the gym and practice because I felt like I was playing and trying to do stuff on the golf course, but it wasn't happening because I hadn't practiced enough.