Pranavi Urs is playing her first Hero Women’s Indian Open as an LET member
International women’s professional golf returns to India next week with the much-anticipated annual US$400,000 Hero Women’s Indian Open, set to tee off from October 24-27 at the prestigious DLF Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon. A strong field of 114 professionals from the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the Women’s Golf Association of India, along with five Indian amateurs, will vie for the title on the challenging Gary Player-designed course.
This year’s event is headlined by Switzerland’s 24-year-old Chiara Tamburlini, a standout talent with three victories this season. Currently leading both the LET rankings and the Rookie of the Year standings, Tamburlini will be joined by some of the Tour’s finest, including Belgium’s Manon De Roey, winner of the Investec SA Women’s Open, ranked second on the LET, and England’s Alice Hewson, Spain’s Maria Hernandez and Singapore’s Shannon Tan, who are all ranked within the top 10 of the LET standings. These top-tier players promise to bring fierce competition to India.
The crowd will also have the chance to witness Mexico’s Maria Fassi, known for her prodigious driving distance. Fassi, a regular on the LPGA Tour since 2019, will be making her Hero Women’s Indian Open debut, having made 18 starts this season and making the cut in seven events.
On the Indian front, two-time LET winner and Olympian Diksha Dagar will lead the charge. Currently ranked 22nd on the LET standings, Dagar will be looking to make a statement on home soil. She’ll be joined by rising star Pranavi Urs, who sits 27th on the rankings, having secured four top-10 finishes this season. However, notable absences include Aditi Ashok, who is unavailable due to a scheduling conflict with the LPGA Tour, and top-ranked Indian amateur Avani Prashanth, along with Sneha Singh, the 2023 Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour (WPGT) leader. Both are currently competing in LPGA Q-School Stage-II in Florida.
As we await the next Indian champion since Aditi Ashok’s victory in 2016, the stage is set for an exciting showdown. Will one of India’s homegrown talents step up, or will a foreign star emerge victorious on this notoriously demanding course? With seasoned veterans, rising stars and local hopefuls all competing, it promises to be a thrilling week of golf in Gurgaon.
Photo – LET