How Pranavi Urs shrugged off a triple bogey to win golf gold

The significance of Pranavi Urs's gold medal in women's individual golf - the first-ever for India in the history of the Asian Games - can be gauged by the players she left behind.

China's Yin Ruoning, who clinched the silver after a playoff against Singapore's Shannon Xuan Yin Tan, is ranked world no. 6. Shannon herself was the European Order of Merit winner last year. Six of the top 10 in the world - including five of the top six - hail from Asia. And even though not all of them were in action at the Kasugai Country Club East Course, it shows where the epicentre of the game lies, and makes the achievement of the 294-ranked Indian even more remarkable

Four rounds and 72 holes of golf separates the contenders from the pretenders, and where Aditi Ashok had faltered at the 2023 Asian Games in the final round, the 23-year-old from Mysuru made sure to go the whole hog.

There may have been a chance that Pranavi could have faltered too, especially after a triple-bogey 7 on the third hole wiped off her overnight lead and handed the initiative to Yin. But those were the last shots Pranavi dropped and combined with three subsequent birdies, ensured a level-par round and a win by one with a score of 15-under. That she didn't have a big lead and fought all the way to the end of the round, in a way, made her win even more impressive. In fact, she wasn't even sure at the end that the gold medal was hers. Then her teammates dunked two bottles empty in her head.

"I just knew it was either a putt to win or to force a playoff," she said after the three-foot putt on the last. "All I wanted to do was obviously hole the putt."

The self-proclaimed fan of Rory McIlroy and women's World No.1 Nelly Korda had admitted that she had barely slept the previous night and was anxious at the start of her round. After the triple bogey had put her in the chasing pack, Pranavi's comeback started with a birdie on the sixth. Another one on the 10th saw her catching Yin and the one on 13, put the Indian ahead again. The Chinese couldn't find a birdie on the back nine. Shannon had six birdies on her card, but two bogeys and a double bogey hurt her chances.

Pranavi has been playing on the Ladies European Tour (LET) for the last couple of years and though she hasn't won yet, she hopes "maybe I will get it soon."

The magnitude of the achievement was not lost on those running the sport in the country either.

"It's a fantastic achievement and the way Pranavi stayed calm and composed was really commendable," Champika Sayal, the secretary general of the Women's Golf Association of India, told The Indian Express.

"She has registered several top-five finishes on the LET and has now proved that she is a world-class player."

Blossoming talent

India has had a vibrant domestic golf structure for quite some time but, as Sayal said, it was the first time the squad had been put together based solely on world rankings. With the Hero Women's Open at Gurugram's DLF Golf & Country Club scheduled later this month, with Pranavi confirmed to be in the field, it would provide a big shot in the arm to the game.

Pranavi turned professional as a teenager and won the Women's Pro Tour Order of Merit in 2022. She was part of the team that won the silver medal at the 2023 Asian Games before getting into LET through the Q-School. She had been knocking on the door frequently this season, finishing tied fifth at the Dutch Ladies Open. She has put together other good rounds as well, but is still waiting to get it all together.

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"If she continues to improve, she can even get on the LPGA Tour as well," Sayal hoped. "It will inspire upcoming players as well, as Pranavi cut her teeth in the game in the hard conditions of the Mysore Golf Club."

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is the next obvious target, and there will be a maximum of only two spots available per country. Apart from the men's and women's individual events, there will be a mixed team event as well.

"The qualification process started in June this year and will go on till June 2028, but the players have to be inside the top 400 in the world rankings to even be in the reckoning. We have four inside the top 400 and five inside 500. The men need to get inside the top 400 first," Sayal remarked.

The highest-ranked Indian player currently is Yuvraj Sandhu at 512. He combined with Saptak Talwar (649) and Veer Ahlawat (652) to finish 6th in the team competition. Ahlawat and Talwar finished tied 6th on the individual table.