RIO DE JANEIRO -- Watching Aditi Ashok climb the leaderboard Thursday at the women's Olympic golf tournament, it was tough to decide what was more surprising.
That an 18-year-old -- the youngest player in the field -- from a nontraditional golf country was playing so well while under so much pressure? Or that she plans to try and qualify for the LPGA Tour while attempting to take college courses -- in journalism -- back home in India?
The hope here is that Aditi will put in the time on her short game -- which is exactly how she got introduced to golf when she was 5 years old at a course near her Bangalore home.
Now she's an Olympian and, despite being ranked 462nd in the world, turning heads at the Olympic Golf Course after shooting a pair of 68s to open the tournament. That put her tied for eighth, just 4 shots behind 36-hole leader Inbee Park from South Korea.
"I'm obviously pleased with myself," said Aditi, who last year became the youngest player to win the qualifying event that put her on the Ladies European Tour. "Three under on both days and that's pretty consistent for me. I dropped a few shots and could have done better, but I'm happy going into the weekend."
That sounds like a seasoned pro, and it's pretty impressive for someone who grew up in cricket-mad India without a lot of golf idols.
India has 1.5 billion people, but just 200 golf courses, many of them on military bases that make them inaccessible to the public.
Yet almost on a whim, Aditi and her parents headed to the putting green at a course where they happened to be eating breakfast when she was 5. The golf bug hit, and by age 7 she was playing in junior tournaments with boys.
"We don't have a separate tournament for girls and boys," said Aditi's father, Gudlamani, who is caddying for her this week. "So girls and boys played together. From an early age, she played with the boys. And I guess that helped her. She was a pretty short hitter, so she's worked hard on her short game. In fact, she worked from the green back to the tee box. That's why you saw the nice up and down there on 18 for bogey.''
Gudlamani was taking no credit. He has caddied for his daughter occasionally, but says he tries to stay out of the way.
"I just carry the bag and clean the clubs," he said. "We just keep talking. If you were watching on the green, I clear the ball and give it to her. She putts on her own."
That is why he was filled with pride as his daughter teed off in the first round Wednesday.
"I was almost in tears," he said. "I thanked her for giving me this opportunity, the honor. As kids, we all dream of being Olympians. She brought me to the Olympics."
Noting that he is nowhere near as calm as his daughter when she is playing golf, Gudlamani gave credit to his wife, Mash. "That doesn't come from me," he said. "It's her mom. In fact, she is the pillar or our whole golfing journey."
That journey will take them to the United States next week, when Aditi will take part in the first stage of qualifying for the LPGA Tour. She would have tried last year, but had not met the minimum age requirement of 18.
So far this year, Aditi has had only modest success on the Ladies European Tour, but she seems to understand the patient approach and is using that to her advantage as she is in contention here.
"I didn't expect to be there,'' she said. "I just wanted to follow my game plan and do the best I could. It's great to be there and I'm looking forward to the weekend.''