Pranavi Urs meets Rory McIlroy in Delhi after Asian Games gold on Wednesday, October 14

Pranavi Urs met Rory McIlroy in Delhi on Wednesday, October 14, soon after the Irish star arrived in India ahead of the DP World India Championship; Urs is the Asian Games 2026 gold medallist. The meeting took place as McIlroy began his second visit to India ahead of Thursday's tournament.

Urs recalled a critical moment from her final round at the Asian Games when a three-stroke lead evaporated after she carded a triple bogey on the third hole. She said she drew encouragement from McIlroy’s comeback at the 2025 Masters, though she slightly misremembered the precise detail — McIlroy had made a double bogey rather than a triple. “I was like, it’s fine,” Pranavi said referring to her triple bogey moment, as quoted by Olympics.com. “I remembered what Rory did the first time he won the Masters. He started with a triple, I think, a double or a triple.

Both players were photographed together at the course; they chatted, spent time on the putting green and walked across a couple of holes, posts shared by Pranavi Urs (@pranavi_urs) and DP World PGTI (@pgtofindia) show. McIlroy met Urs soon after arriving in the country for his second visit, according to the report.

Urs described McIlroy as her primary idol and contrasted her following of him with that of Tiger (Woods). “Rory has been my idol for as long as I can remember. I grew up watching him more than I watched Tiger (Woods). I like Tiger as well, but Rory is my ultimate hero,” she told Sportstar. “I told him about what I felt when I made the triple bogey in the final round, and he told me about what happened to him at one of the Tour Championships. We spoke about how he felt playing his first Masters. It was quite motivating,” Pranavi said.

McIlroy praised Urs’s recovery and called her achievement impressive in remarks relayed by PTI. "Winning the Asian Games is an amazing achievement. To recover from an early triple bogey and go on to win shows tremendous resilience and character. It was a delight to meet her," the 37-year-old Irish superstar said after meeting the young player from Mysuru. "She's a wonderful young woman. She said she was nervous, but she didn't seem it, and it was great to spend some time with her. She told me she's playing the Women's Indian Open at DLF next week."

McIlroy added details about their brief time together and Urs’s schedule. "She walked a few holes with us, but then said she needed to go and practice. It's an amazing accomplishment, and I'm glad I had the chance to meet her," he added, the report said, noting McIlroy is a former world number one.

Urs became the first Indian golfer to win Asian Games gold and also contributed to India’s silver in the women's team event. McIlroy is set to play in the DP World India Championship on Thursday, and Urs told him she will compete in the Women's Indian Open at DLF next week.