Women's Golf Association of India

Modest start for Pranavi Urs in China

SHENZHEN, CHINA, Nov 5: Pranavi Urs got off to a modest start at the 2026 Aramco China Championship as she carded an even par 72 in the first round at the World Cup Course at Mission Hills China in Shenzhen.

Pranavi, the Asian Games gold medallist, who finished fourth at the Hero Women’s Indian Open, last month had two birdies and two bogeys in a rather quiet round.

Pranavi, who is supported by Hero, played alongside Daniela Darquea of Ecuador and Italian Anna Zanusso, birdied the fourth and the 16th but dropped shots on the second and the fifth.

Three players shared the lead after the first round. English duo Annabell Fuller and Charlotte Heath were joined at the top of the leaderboard by China’s Liqi Zeng after they all fired rounds of 65 (-8).

Fuller was bogey-free on the opening day in Shenzhen rolling in birdies on the first, second, fourth, ninth, 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th holes. England’s Heath, who won the 2026 La Sella Open, had nine birdies on her scorecard and one bogey.

China’s Zeng also had a flawless first day making birdies on holes one, five, six, eight, 10, 11, 14 and 18 in front of a home crowd.

Chinese amateur Yujie Liu is in solo fourth place on seven-under-par after an opening round of 66 (-7). The 16-year-old Liu got off to a hot start with birdies on holes 10 and 12 before rolling in six consecutive birdies on holes 14 through to the first.

The teenager dropped a shot on the fifth hole, but sits just one shot off the lead on seven-under-par.

Three players are in a tie for fifth place with Sweden’s Moa Folke, England’s Mimi Rhodes and Thailand’s Pimnipa Panthong all on six-under-par.

Rhodes, who was the 2026 LET Rookie of the Year, enjoyed her round of 67 (-6) which included seven birdies and one bogey.

One shot further back are the trio of Spain’s Luna Sobron Galmes, defending champion Ruixin Liu and 2026 LET Order of Merit winner Casandra Alexander in T8.

Round two will begin at 6.45 am (local time) at Mission Hills China, and there will be a cut to the top 60 professionals and ties at the end of the day.

Fuller said, “I played really nicely. I’ve been hitting it nicely for a while, so it’s nice to have a round where the putts dropped and that reflected with lots of birdies. I didn’t really get myself into much trouble, I hit it pretty straight.”