IGPL Invitational 2026: Kashika Seeks To Become Second Woman Golfer After Pranavi To Win Title

IGPL Invitational 2026: Kashika seeks to become second woman golfer after Pranavi to win title (Kashika Misra seeks to become second woman golfer after Pranavi Urs to win title in the IGPL Invitational Delhi at the Qutub Golf Course in New Delhi on Thursday. Photo credit: IGPL Invitational)

IGPL Invitational Delhi: Kashika Misra is one round away from becoming only the second Indian woman to win a mixed professional golf tournament as she rose to the top of the leaderboard in the IGPL Invitational Delhi at the Qutub Golf Course in New Delhi on Thursday.

The young golfer, who has worn India colours multiple times as an amateur, added a round of 6-under to her first round of 4-under to get to double digits under par at 10-under after 36 holes.

The only woman to have won a pro event in a mixed field is Pranavi Urs, who did so at the IGPL Invitational Mumbai last year and, ironically, on this day itself, Pranavi is second on the leaderboard in the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, as she contends for a medal for India.

Kashika (66-64) at 10-under is one shot ahead of IGPL rookie Arjun Prasad (66-65), who is nine-under, and in sole third is Kapil Kumar, who fired a spectacular seven-under par 63 in the second round to storm 18 places up and move to the third spot.

Young pro Kanav Chauhan with 68-65 is sole fourth at 7-under, as overnight leader Aryan Roopa Anand (64-70) is tied fifth with his Blue Bulls team captain Shiv Kapur (66-68) and Harshjeet Sethie (67-67) at 6-under.

It was teenage Kashika’s day as she had two birdies against one birdie on the front nine of the course, and added another one on the 10th and closed the day with four birdies in the last five holes. She will now battle for a title that gives her a place in the IGPL history books alongside Pranavi Urs. “I had a great round, and any time you shoot 6-under it feels nice. I had just one bogey, and I managed the course well overall. Tomorrow I will try to keep it the same,” said Kashika.

Kumar's charge was also a stellar show. After opening with a modest one-under round, the Krishna Punjab player found another gear and ripped apart the course with a seven-under effort, taking his aggregate to eight-under and suddenly putting himself among the leading contenders.

Arjun Prasad, who joined IGPL earlier this season, stayed within touching distance at nine-under following another strong five-under round.

Aryan, who had begun the event in spectacular fashion with a six-under opening round, followed it with a round that seemed decent enough at 2-under till he double bogeyed late in the round to finish even par and lose some ground, but remains firmly in the hunt.

The chasing pack is close enough to make the leaderboard anything but settled. For RVR Delhi, the presence of Aryan Anand and Kapur near the top provides an added subplot, though the team is now down to fifth place.

Arjun Prasad’s effort has taken Unico Gurugram Tuskers to the top at 14-under while Punjab Raptors, boosted by Kapil, are second at 13-under. Auro Goa Eagles, Vizag Dolphins and Blue Bulls are tied third at 12-under, setting up the stage for a tight final round.

Karandeep Kochhar was among the biggest moves of the day, climbing to T-8 alongside Gaganjeet Bhullar, Veer Ganapathy and Ravi Kumar, who reached five-under. Bhullar remains very much in the picture at five-under.

Kashika Misra has the lead, but Prasad is just one shot away, and Kapil Kumar is chasing hard, with Kanav Chauhan also in the race.

Karandeep Kochhar was among the biggest moves of the day, climbing to T-8 alongside Gaganjeet Bhullar, Veer Ganapathy and Ravi Kumar, who reached five-under. Bhullar remains very much in the picture at five-under.

Article Source: IANS