India’s Pranavi Urs celebrates after winning the women’s individual stroke play gold medal and women’s team silver medal with Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar (REUTERS) Overnight leader Pranavi Urs was channelling her inner Rory McIlroy as she negotiated the unsettling bumps that came with the pressure of the final day in the Asian Games women’s golf event.After she two-putted to golden glory on the rolling greens of Kasugai Country Club, she was a picture of calm, and quite unaware that she had sealed a historic first.Pranavi was in the zone. Only when playing partner Shannon Tan walked up to her, she realised her feat. “I thought it was to force a playoff,” she said. But it was the happy ending to an accomplished performance. It could also be a new beginning, instrumental in teeing off changes in the game back home.There was that gentle smile as she embraced her challengers. And then, she was ready for the customary soak by her friends Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok, with whom she shares team silver now. To go along with that shiny gold, thank you.“The first will always be the first. And I’ve always had that motto,” she said. “You are always going to have multiple winners, but you’re never going to have (another) first winner.”Last year, in a local ‘Battle of the Sexes’ battle on the IGPL circuit, the Mysuru golfer had emerged as the first woman to break through the barriers in a mixed field, beating boyfriend Karandeep Kochchar. “IGPL was good but gold beats it.”After playing in the howling wind and relentless rain on the Ayrshire links course of the Scottish Open, and leaving Las Vegas’ high-profile Aramco Championship with a creditable cut in a year she discovered new horizons, the 23-year-old Ladies European Tour (LET) golfer drew on all that mental fortitude in three sub-par rounds, and a fighting even-par final outing.With a three-stroke lead overnight, she admitted she and her anxious family, and boyfriend, couldn’t sleep in anticipation. “We all grew up in a joint family. Obviously, everyone couldn’t make it to Japan. My (cousin) sister Vidhatri, who also plays on the pro tour, was a nervous wreck. There’s always a live commentary going on in our group chats. And I told them, please record your reaction if I win. That was my last message before I teed off.”It was the Bollywood-style denouement her mother Kaivalya wanted. “It was always my mom’s dream to have me represent the country and win, and then the national anthem. I’m glad I could do it in front of my parents. Dad (Sharath) cried, probably for the second time in his life. It’s funny because he cried when I was born. I did it for them.”It didn’t come easy. After a 66-63-66 push on the par-70 course, Pranavi stumbled with a triple bogey on the 3rd before India saw the sun rise, and former Major champ and six-time LPGA winner Ruoning Yin became the woman to chase. For viewers back home, it felt like a reprise of the disappointment of Aditi missing out on a medal at the Tokyo Olympics.But this was never meant to be a case of the ‘yips’. Only ‘yippee’, as Pranavi invoked the spirit of Rory, who won his first elusive Masters in 2025, having conceded a ‘triple’ early on. “I was thinking, if he can go and win the Masters, so can you. And I made three birdies after that,” was her reply to the doubters.When World No. 6 Yin’s birdie putt lipped out on the 18th, Pranavi arrived for her date with destiny.Next is a sweet homecoming for Urs, as she hunts for another first — a Ladies European Tour title — at the Hero Women’s Indian Open a little more than a fortnight from now. There, she will re-acquaint herself with Tan, the defending champion.As Pranavi ended a 24-year wait for a golf gold, Busan 2002 gold medallist Shiv Kapur found himself applauding Pranavi’s efforts. “I woke up early to follow the competition and was struck by her ability to remain composed under pressure,” he said. “I lived every moment. I hope the medals will be a huge boost for the game in India.” he added.
