Chandigarh, March 11 – Shat Mishra, who only turned professional in 2025, started his 2026 campaign with a strong performance, finishing the first round of the 2026 IGPL Invitational Chandigarh with a score of 66, six under par.
Mishra had a decent season in 2025, finishing in the middle of the pack in the tour standings. He had a particularly strong start to the tournament, but his performance cooled down somewhat on the back nine.
Mishra made five birdies on the front nine, before making mistakes on the 10th and 11th holes. He also made four more shots, including a stunning eagle on the Par-5 16th, as well as birdies on the 13th and 17th holes.
Mishra held a two-shot lead over the other players, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Yashas Chandra, and Kartik Sharma. A group of five other players, including last year's No. 2, Aman Raj, experienced Chiragh Kumar, Indian-American Manav Shah, young IGPL recruit Danish Verma, and local Chandigarh man, Ranjit Singh, were also within striking distance, with a combined score of 69, three under par.
The fact that the players had been working hard on their games was evident, as six other players were tied for 10th place, with a score of 70, two under par.
The six players included last year’s IGPL No. 1, Pukhraj Singh Gill, who is recovering from an injury, in-form Karandeep Kochhar, Kapil Kumar, the IGPL Pune winner, Syed Saqib Ahmed, young Krish Chawla, and the legendary SSP Chawrasia, who has won six times on the Asian Tour.
Bhullar, the defending champion at IGPL Chandigarh, had a bogey-free 68, three under par, and was tied with Yashas Chandra and Gurugram southpaw Kartik Sharma.
Mishra was pleased with his round. “All the hard work I put in paid off. The front nine was great, the putts fell well, but I made a few mistakes on the back nine. I had a short missed putt, a plugged lie, and a few other short misses, but the eagle on the 16th was a great consolation,” said the young golfer.
Bhullar, who plans to divide his time between the International Series, the Asian Tour, and the IGPL, was also happy with his day, although he also mentioned that he was going to practice his putting. “I need to work a bit on that,” he said with a smile.
Kochhar, who will also be playing on the Asian Tour and the IGPL, made two birdies and a few missed putts, but managed to keep bogeys off his card. He made birdies on the Par-5s on the second and 13th holes, and parred the rest.
Yashas has been steadily finding his rhythm and form since late 2025. He showed that he had been practicing hard, as he made four birdies in the first five holes. He made his only bogey on the Par-5 seventh hole. On the back nine, he made one birdie and eight pars.
After an early birdie on the second, Chawrasia, a two-time Indian Open winner, made mistakes on the third and sixth holes, but made three birdies in a row from the 12th to the 14th.
“There was some rust, and I think I cleared some of it,” said Chawrasia, who will be playing a lot on the Asian Tour and the IGPL, like many other players in this field.