Pune (Maharashtra) [India], October 1, 2025: India’s rising stars continued to stand out as Pukhraj Singh Gill and Sunhit Bishnoi shared the lead at the end of the first day of the IGPL Pune Invitational. The duo shot 4-under 67 at the Par-71 Poona Golf Club, which after days of battering from the rains, held up well for the day.
The organisers have opted for a shotgun start and will stay with it for the next two days and the conditions were excellent through the day.
Pukhraj and Bishnoi where one shot adrift of four players, who were tied a 3-under 68.
The four include Sachin Baisoya, who bogeyed his last hole to fall out of the tie for the lead, Saarthak Chibber, who picked two birdies in his last three holes, Kartik Singh, who recovered a double-bogey, and Kapil Kumar, who began with a birdie and then picked three birdies over his last eight holes.
Sunhit, who in less than three years as a pro, has established him as a player to watch out, was happy with his play. He said, “I was happy with the round. Cannot complain about a 4-under; it can always be better, but this is a good start. I putted well and greens, which were about 8.5, were rolling well.”
Sunhit was tied seventh in Chandigarh and T-15 in Greater Noida.
Also happy with his round was Pukhraj, who started his day from the second hole. Five pars were followed by a birdie that was neutralized on the very next hole. He picked birdied on the 10th and the 15th and then picked two more birdies on his last two holes – the 18th and the first. “That was a nice finish, and it left me with a great feeling, and I am raring to go tomorrow. I was feeling comfortable the whole day.”
On his IGPL experience so far, Pukhraj, who has finished in Top-10 in both the events held so far, added, “I am happy feeling free to play without pressure of a cut and that has helped me.” He was second at the IGPL Invitational NCR and was Tied-seventh in Chandigarh.
Kartik Singh, the boy wonder of Indian golf, who was Tied-seventh in Chandigarh and third in Jaypee Greens, continued his fine run. He started on the 14th and quickly went up to 2-under with birdies on the 16th and he 18th. Then came the disaster in the form of a double bogey on the third, where he got a poor lie, too. He messed up and the resultant double bogey saw him to fall back to even par.
Two pars calmed him down and he picked a birdie on the sixth. Back-to-back birdies on the ninth and the tenth saw him make a good recovery as he finished 3-under for the day.
“I was happy with the finish after the disappointing double (bogey). But it is only the first day,” said Kartik.
The leading ladies were Hitaashee Bakshi and Ridhima, both playing their first IGPL tournament. They were ready to make up for what they had missed earlier by carding 2-under and were part of a six-way tie for the seventh place. Also tied seventh were Harendra Singh, who dropped from 4-under to 2-under with a bogey-bogey finish, young Raghav Chugh, who is growing with each outing, Harshjeet Sethie and the veteran Ranjit Singh.
Hitaashee opened with a bogey on the sixth, where she started, but three birdies on the seventh, 15h and the fourth brought her to a respectable 2-under.
Ridhima Dilawari, who like Hitaashee is using this week as good tune up for next week’s Hero Women’s Indian Open, started on the 11th and had three birdies against one bogey.
Sethie had four birdies against two bogeys in his round, while Raghav Chugh, who has been doing well as a pro, had five birdies but also gave away three bogeys, and Ranjit Singh had an action-packed day with five birdies against one bogey and one double bogey.
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