IGPL Invitational 2026: Aryan Roopa Anand Leads As Blue Bulls Make The Charge

IGPL Invitational 2026: Aryan Roopa Anand leads as Blue Bulls make the charge (Aryan Roopa Anand leads as Delhi Blue Bulls make the charge in the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) Invitational New Delhi at the Qutab Golf Course in New Delhi on Wednesday. Photo credit: IGPL)

Indian Golf Premier League: Young Aryan Roopa Anand produced a classy 6-under 66 in the opening round of the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) to take the outright lead, firing a sparkling six-under-66 at the Qutab Golf Course in New Delhi on Wednesday. It also gave his own team, Delhi Blue Bulls, who are playing at home, an early boost.

With his team captain Shiv Kapur, who was runner-up at the last event in Ras AL Khaimah, also getting off to a good start with a 4-under 68, the Blue Bulls were well-placed in the team stakes.

Young pro Sawai Hamendra Singh Bhati, who has shown promise in his past few appearances, and the experienced Sachin Baisoya, an IGPL winner in Mauritius, carded five-under 67s to share second place.

Delhi Blue Bulls were in the lead in the team standings with contributions from Aryan and Kapur, and they were 10-under.

Vimtra Chennai Lions, whose pillar is Gaganjeet Bhullar, and Green Fuels Vizag Dolphins, whose top star today was M Dharma, were tied second at 7-under.

The crowded Day One leaderboard had a fascinating mix of youth and experience, as eight players, including one woman, Kashika Mishra, were tied fourth.

The bunch included the pedigreed Shiv Kapur, the highly consistent Gaganjeet Bhullar, Varun Parikh, Arjun Prasad, making only his second IGPL start, veteran M. Dharma, Rohit Baisoya and Shaurya Binu. They all carded 4-under 68 each.

Manav Shah, who had qualified for the US Open, was T-12 at 3-under 69, while Karandeep Kochhar (71) was T-21. Varun Chopra (72), the winner in Ras Al Khaimah, had a modest start with an even-par card that placed him T-26.

The youngest member of Delhi Blue Bulls, Aryan, a Mysuru-born emerging star, is recognised as one of India's top rising golf talents since he transitioned to the professional circuit in 2023 after a highly decorated amateur career during which he won back-to-back All India Amateur titles.

Earlier this year, he secured his maiden professional victory on the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) Tour at the IGPL Invitational Congo in April, where he beat former Olympian Udayan Mane in a tense three-hole playoff.

The win earned him an invite to play the $2 million International Series Morocco on the Asian Tour.

Speaking of his team, Aryan said, “I couldn't have asked to play for a better team. We've got a great number of owners, very supportive of our needs. Also, as a team, I think we share the closest bond as teammates with each other. So our camaraderie is honestly unmatched, especially for me, because I'm considerably younger than all of them. I look up to them as mentors and, you know, they've really taken that role on and kind of helped me grow as a golfer too over the course of these last three to four 4 months.”

“I think I'm pretty happy because it's home week for us and it's good to see the, you know, team on the top of the leaderboard and myself too, and Shiv Sir is right behind there,” he said.

On his game in the first round, he added, “My short game was pretty good today, so I converted a lot of birdies from close range. And when I did go off, on some of the holes, I did use my short game to, you know, kind of save the score. So I guess my short game kind of helped me a lot.”

Aryan started from the first, birdied the third and the fourth before dropping his only shot of the day on the Par-3 sixth. He made up for it with a birdie on the eighth to turn in 2-under 34.

On the back nine, Aryan birdied the 11th to get to 3-under. Then over the last four holes, he found three birdies on the 15th, 16th and the 18th for a day’s work of 6-under. He missed a few more makeable putts but had no three-putts on a solid day.

For Aryan, the early lead adds another layer to what has already been an encouraging IGPL season. The young golfer’s performance at Qutab was particularly significant for the Delhi Blue Bulls, who are looking to make an impact on their home course.

Sawai Bhati had six birdies against one bogey, while Sachin Baisoya, who is looking for his second IGPL win, had six birdies and one late bogey in his 67.

Kapur, meanwhile, opened with a solid four-under 68 to share fourth place with five other players. The former Asian Games gold medallist is coming into the Delhi leg with unfinished business after his dramatic battle with Varun Chopra in Ras Al Khaimah last week.

Kapur had appeared in control of the Ras Al Khaimah event after opening with a spectacular 10-under 62, including a hole-in-one, and carried a three-shot lead into the final round. But Chopra produced a decisive closing 68 to finish at 14-under 202 and claim his maiden IGPL title.

Kapur, meanwhile, opened with a solid four-under 68 to share fourth place with five other players. The former Asian Games gold medallist is coming into the Delhi leg with unfinished business after his dramatic battle with Varun Chopra in Ras Al Khaimah last week.

Article Source: IANS