Pranavi Urs continued to show tremendous grit, climbing to the top of the Asian Games women’s individual golf leaderboard after 54 holes at Aichi-Nagoya on Friday. Image courtesy APGC.
By Rahul Banerji
Pranavi Urs dropped her first shot in two days but by then she had done enough to move into the Asian Games golf competition’s sole 54-hole lead in Aichi-Nagoya on Friday.
In the battle for women’s individual gold, Pranavi (4 under par 66, 15 under 195) overhauled Shannon Tan (1 over 71, 12 under 198) to end the day with a three-shot lead over the Singapore star.
In doing so, the 26-year-old from Mysore also carried India into silver medal contention in the team event at 11 under 409 with the two best scores of three counting daily.
China lead the team event on 15 under 405 at the Kasugai Country Club East Course.
India are yet to win an Asian Games women’s golf gold medal and that could change on Saturday but Pranavi will have to withstand Indian Open winner Tan’s inevitable attacks.
Also looming dangerously is Chinese star and six-time LPGA winner Ruoning Yin at 11 under 199, one shot behind the second-placed Tan.
In the men’s competition, past DP World PGTI rankings topper Veer Ahlawat was 10th, six shots behind new leader Joohyung Kim of South Korea.
Authoritative display
On a day when the pressure was expected to intensify, Pranavi played with authority in her 66 and turn a two-shot deficit into a solid three-shot advantage going into the final round.
It is the second successive Asian Games at which an Indian woman has held the 54-hole individual lead.
Aditi Ashok led the field at China’s Hangzhou in 2023, only for her seven-shot advantage to disappear with a final-round 77 that gave her second place.
India ended fourth in the team event and Aditi’s silver remains the country’s only women’s golf medal at the Asian Games.
Pranavi could now change that story.
The 26-year-old moved ahead with three birdies on the front nine as Tan struggled, dropping three shots in her first 10 holes.
A blip saw Pranavi drop her first bogey since Wednesday but she had a flourish up her sleeve on hole 18, landing close to the pin for a birdie putt and a three-stroke lead.
More putts
“Wish I could have holed more putts in the back nine. Hopefully I’m saving them for tomorrow,” Pranavi was quoted as having said.
“Overall, it was pretty solid from tee to green. I just didn’t hit a lot of bad shots.”
She has come close more than once on the Ladies European Tour for a first international title, and the Asian Games has given her another chance.
“I hope so. That’s, that’s all I can hope for. I am just gonna take it shot by shot. The result is not in my control anyway.
“Today I was just focussed on my game. Just played my game and stuck to my game plan.
“It’s been three years on the LET and obviously, I haven’t won yet, and I’m still knocking on the door to get my first win, Hopefully I get that soon.”
Moving up
On the men’s side, Ahlawat replaced domestic rankings leader Saptak Talwar as the top Indian on the leaderboard.
Ahlawat shot a 5 under 65, including four birdies on the back nine and a 6 under 204 total for tenth place while Talwar (71) was a step behind on 205.
Yuvraj Sandhu was tied 23rd after 54 holes on 1 over 211 and India were sixth in the team competition at 11 under 409.
PGA Tour star Joohyung Kim (66-67-65) led the men’s field on 12 under 198 after flying in straight from his heroics at the Presidents Cup in Medinah for the Internationals.
Chinese Taipei’s Wang Wei Hsuan and Japan’s Kazuki Higa were a shot behind on 11 under in shared second place.
A gold medal finish (individual or team) is crucial for Kim as it will help him avoid a compulsory two-year national service stint as stay focussed on his professional career.
Korea also lead the men’s team event, with Japan, featuring Keita Nakajima and Higa, second and China, with Ding Wenyi, third.
Also read: Pranavi powers on in second place at Nagoya Asian Games
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