Pranavi Urs smashes glass ceiling: First Indian woman to win professional golf title against men on IGPL Tour

New Delhi: On a warm Thursday afternoon at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Pranavi Urs walked up the 18th fairway with history within reach, unaware perhaps that her next few swings would do far more than win a tournament.

They would alter the conversation around women in Indian sport.In her very first appearance on the IGPL Invitational Tour — a rare open field where women compete directly against men for equal prize money — Pranavi produced a bogey-free 8-under 60 to clinch the title at 14-under. She didn’t just win; she beat the men at their own game, including overnight leader and boyfriend Karandeep Kochhar, who finished two shots adrift.

That final charge was the best round of the week, capping off a performance that felt like a shift in what is possible for women in Indian golf.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“I had no expectations getting into this week,” the 22-year-old told TimesofIndia.com, smiling at the scale of what she had just accomplished. “It was my first event, so I just wanted to kind of have fun, play good golf and I did just that, but obviously, the outcome was a lot better than I expected it to be.”

Pranavi began the day two shots behind Kochhar but was calm from the first tee, chipping away at the deficit with a birdie on the second, then reeling off more gains on the fourth, fifth and seventh.

By the time she turned for the back nine, she was on fire. She added two more birdies on the 10th and 12th, built a three-shot cushion, and never once looked like relinquishing control. Her final birdie on the 18th was the punctuation mark on a day that may well be remembered as a landmark moment in the Indian golf.For Pranavi, the goal was simple - beat Kochhar, she said with a laugh. Fact that she beat the lot only made it more dramatic and more special.“I've been saying this all week that my goal was to beat Karan this week,” she said. “I'm glad I beat everybody else as well, along with, you know, beating him.”The dynamic between them is more playful than competitive, and Pranavi insists any suggestion of rivalry is overstated. “I wouldn't say it's a rivalry because we don't play together that often.

But when we do play, it's always fun banter between both of us. We're always trying to beat each other, which obviously helps us to be a better golfer and a better person in general.”

Beyond the personal storyline, her win struck a chord for its larger significance: a young Indian woman emerging atop a leaderboard traditionally dominated by men. In a country where female athletes routinely battle for visibility, resources and recognition, Pranavi’s victory challenged old assumptions.When asked about winning in an open field — and doing so at a time when IGPL is pushing equal pay — she didn’t shy away from what it means. “It's fantastic. But I've also mentioned it earlier that women's golf, we're doing a lot better than the men's internationals. So I think getting that experience from LET [Ladies European Tour] to back home and winning helps a lot. And I feel like if I can do it, anyone else can do it."So it's just, it was a matter of time that some girl had to be on top of the leaderboard.

And fortunately, it had to be me.”

Her perspective on women’s sport is shaped by the growth she has seen firsthand. She points to Aditi Ashok’s fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics as a turning point, not just for women’s golf but for Indian golf as a whole. “Aditi finishing fourth was a major, major milestone for Indian golf in general, whether male or female. I don't think anybody's achieved as much as she has on the Indian golf platform.”The landscape, she believes, is shifting — slowly but surely. Participation in WGI events has nearly doubled since her amateur days, she notes, and international tours have begun normalising women returning to elite play after childbirth. “It's definitely changing,” she said. “Like a lot of the girls are back playing within, you know, three, four or five months after giving birth, which is great. And they're playing the same golf that they did before.

”For Pranavi herself, the journey began on the Mysore course as a five-year-old, tagging along with her father and watching golfers at the morning range. She won her very first event at seven. From there came milestones — best amateur at the Indian Open at 14, an Asian Games berth, and back-to-back wins during her transition to the professional ranks.

Now, she stands on the cusp of further breakthroughs. SSP Chawrasia recently said she is close to winning on the Ladies European Tour, having clinched 7 top-10 finishes from 38 played.“I have come close to winning a couple of times on the LET. It's just a matter of time that I get that done. I just have to stay patient and positive throughout and hopefully one day I can get the W over there as well.”

She approaches tournaments with an uncomplicated philosophy: each day, each hole, each shot on its own terms. “Every week is a new week. Every day is a new day,” she said. “You can't carry success from this week to next week… I just have to take it week by week and if anything, shot by shot and see what happens from there.”But no matter what comes next for her internationally, what she achieved in Mumbai carries a meaning that extends far beyond her personal career. It was a moment of defiance, of possibility — a young woman stepping into a male-dominated arena and emerging not just as a contender, but as the champion.