Asian Games: Golfer Pranavi Urs, seasoned and quietly confident

New Delhi: It is early autumn in Europe and for golfers on the Ladies European Tour (LET) who have had a challenging season thus far, it is time to prepare for a final push through the last few tournaments to ensure they retain their card for the 2027 season.

India’s Pranavi Urs exudes calm. Into her third season on the LET, she sits a comfortable 42nd in the Order of Merit list, from which the top 70 will keep their spots. There are seven events left, with this week’s La Sella Open in Spain being her next destination.

The Hero Women’s Indian Open is in the third week of October, and Pranavi can look forward to boost her Order of Merit and Money List spots, having finished fourth last year for her best finish in 2025.

But there is an important challenge before that: the Asian Games at the Kasugai Country Club course from September 30-October 3. The 23-year-old, whose game has steadily grown in the last three LET seasons, is keen to make a long-awaited trip to Japan, but doesn’t think much about any medal to money mindset switch.

“I’m really looking forward to the trip, it’s going to be my second time playing in Japan. It’s been a while…I’m excited to go out there and represent India,” she says in an interview.

An individual game round the year, multi-sports Games require one to carry a different kind of focus. Indian women’s golf team are surely medal contenders despite a strong field expected for the individual and team medals. The leader of the three-member team is Aditi Ashok, who won individual silver at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games—the first Indian woman golfer to win an Asiad medal—after agonisingly missing the bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, ending fourth.

Diksha Dagar, 25, was T50 in that campaign. The form of the two-time winner on LET looks good going into the Asian Games, as she is currently 12th on the LET Order of Merit. Pranavi, the youngest of the trio, was the newcomer at Hangzhou when India missed the team medal, finishing fourth. Pranavi was a creditable 13th in the individual event. She is confident this time, with the experience and a far improved game since then, it will be much better.

“I would want to think of the Asian Games as another event because every tournament that I play, regardless of what the prize money is or how big of an event it is, your end goal is to go out there and win,” the golfer from Mysore said.

“So, I’m going to still go out there and try and win. Once you try and do that, automatically your game and your team’s goals will be counted. The more you think about ‘what I’m going to do for the team’ it is more unnecessary pressure that you’re going to be putting on yourself.

“I just want to kind of go out there and do what I need to do as a golfer, and then the rest of the outcome is not in my control.”

Pranavi acknowledges Aditi, 28, sparking life into the Indian women’s golf by her 2021 Tokyo Olympics show. An entire nation willed her on as she held bright medal chances in the final round before missing out on a bronze playoff spot by one shot. The Indian women golfers will carry better medal hopes than their male counterparts Yuvraj Sandhu, Veer Ahlawat and Saptak Talwar in Japan.

Consistency has been the heartening aspect for Pranavi this season. Her T17 at the Irish Open late in August and learning to deal with rain, wind and cold playing in Scotland are all lessons accumulated.

“So, I’ve gained a lot more experience than I did the last time I was in China. Hopefully I can carry that and, you know, play some good golf.”

Back home on a break, La Sella Open will follow before the Japan trip.

“It (Hangzhou Games) was like my first big event. Since then, I’ve secured my card on the LET and gained more exposure. I played the Scottish Open and Aramco London and stuff where, you know, the world No.1 to the world’s top 20 played. I’ve played bigger events like in Las Vegas early this year when we played a co-sanctioned LPGA event.

“I started off a bit slow, but the second half of the season since the Europe stretch I’ve been playing really well. I’ve been consistently finishing top 15 on the LET and I’ve mostly secured my card for next year, which is a good sign.”

“I can see my game moving in the right direction,” she said. “You’ve got to be prepared and just be patient on the golf course. That’s something that I’ve learned over the last three years at LET on what I need to be doing other than thinking about what the end result is going to be.”