When Pranavi Urs saw her three-shot overnight advantage disappear with a triple bogey on the third hole of the final round at the Asian Games 2026, her thoughts turned to Rory McIlroy.
The Indian golfer remembered Rory McIlroy recovering from an early setback on his way to winning the Masters in 2025. The details may have been slightly hazy – McIlroy had actually made a double bogey rather than a triple – but for Pranavi, the memory served its purpose.
“I was like, it’s fine,” Pranavi said referring to her triple bogey moment.
“I remembered what Rory did the first time he won the Masters. He started with a triple, I think, a double or a triple,” Pranavi recalled after winning the women’s individual gold in golf at the Kasugai Country Club East Course on Saturday.
“And I was like, if he can go and win the Masters, so can you win the Asian Games. So I think that kind of got me back into my lane.”
Asked whether Rory McIlroy often entered her thoughts on the golf course, the answer was emphatic.
“Absolutely, I always think about him.”
Pranavi Urs did recover. After taking seven shots on the par-four third, she made birdies on the sixth, 10th and 13th holes and eventually signed for a level-par 70. Her four-round total of 15-under 265 was enough to win the title by one shot.
The victory was all the more significant given the pedigree of the players chasing her. Pranavi Urs, ranked 291st in the world and yet to win internationally, held off Singapore’s Shannon Tan, ranked 59th, and the People’s Republic of China’s world No. 6 Yin Ruoning, who shared second place at 14-under 266.
Between them, Tan and Yin had 14 international victories, while Yin is a former world No. 1, six-time LPGA winner and the 2023 Women’s PGA Championship major champion.
And Rory McIlroy was not the only golfing superstar providing inspiration.
When Pranavi’s birdie putt at the 13th found the cup, she was reminded of Nelly Korda, whose title-clinching putt at the 2026 US Women’s Open caught the edge and travelled around the lip before dropping.
“Then I thought about Nelly Korda when she won the US Open. That’s how she won it,” Pranavi said. “So I was like, if they can do it, so can I. It was either Rory or Nelly in my mind today.”
There were still some nervy moments to negotiate.
Pranavi described her approach into the long par-four 17th as one of her best shots of the week, leaving herself with a relatively stress-free par. On the 18th, an awkward drive briefly had her wondering whether the ball would clear the water before she recovered with a well-judged approach after making a late club change.
Even after holing out, she was not certain whether she had done enough.
“I honestly didn’t know I won until Shannon [Tan of Singapore] said, ‘Well done’,” Pranavi said. “I just knew it was either a putt to win or it was a putt to force a playoff, and all I wanted to do was obviously hole the putt.”
The gold was made particularly special by the presence of her parents. For Pranavi, representing India and standing atop the podium fulfilled a long-held ambition of her mother.
“I think I purely did it for my parents,” she said. “They’re here this week and it was always my mum’s dream to have me represent the country and win, and then the national anthem and stuff. That was her Bollywood style, typical Bollywood mum. She wanted all that.”
Pranavi Urs also helped India win the women’s team silver, but her individual triumph carried wider significance. Golf still competes for attention in a country where cricket dominates the sporting conversation, something Pranavi has acknowledged during the Games.
On Saturday, however, cricket had taken notice.
“Funny enough, Yuvraj Singh texted me this morning,” Pranavi revealed. “So, it’s nice to have that attention, it’s deserved for the sport.
“I’ll take the fame for like five minutes and then get back to work.”