India's Gaganjeet Bhullar scripts history, wins Indonesia Open

[agamdilawari]

MUMBAI: Kapurthala lad Gaganjeet Bhullarscripted a brilliant chapter in India's golfing history, winning the Indonesia Open. Bhullar led after every round, only sharing the lead in the third round with Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond.

Bhullar's power-packed performance at the Pantai Indah Kapuk course in Jakarta saw him take home $135,000 (over Rs 80 lakh) in prize money and jump two places to be placed fourth in Asia's Order of Merit with total earnings of $462,378.

The Arjuna awardee carded a blemish-free three-under 68 in the final round to leave behind Thailand's Chapchai Nirat and Nicolas Fung of Malaysia by three strokes.

"In golf anything is possible, that's what I have always believed in. If you have trust in your abilities and will power, you can excel anywhere. The rest is for you to see. I just stayed focused throughout and went with the flow," Bhullar told TOI from Jakarta on Sunday.

"I told myself if I have won in India and if I have won so many times abroad, I know how to take the crown whenever I am in contention. Leading till the third round gave me a mental edge over others," the 25-year-old said. The victory is Bhullar's fifth Asian tour title.

Bhullar posted two top-10 finishes in the season from 23 starts with his second-placed finish at the Euro 1.8 million Avantha Masters earlier in February securing his European Tour card. His love affair with Indonesia goes back to 2009, where he had pocketed his maiden Asian Tour title - the President Invitational. Such was the dominance of Bhullar that he conceded only three bogeys and a double-bogey in the last four days with good support from his caddie of three years - American Pim Cox.

"I have normally played well in this part of the world - Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia. I have always felt something good about these places. I won here in 2009 and that did pump me up. I was driving well even last week at the World Cup but had issues with my putting, here I was holing my putts with confidence," the 2006 Doha Asian Games silver medalist said.

Bhullar now aims to finish the season as Asia's No. 1. However, with only three tournaments remaining - the $1.3 million Hong Kong Open, $1 million Thailand Golf Championships and the $1 million Kings Cup - it might be a difficult proposition.

"My target is to finish as No. 1 but only three events are left now, so it is tough. So, in that case I want to at least end up at the No. 2 spot in Asia, which I don't think is out of reach for me," said the World No. 201, who is expected to move up the rankings ladder following this triumph.

Even countrymates Jyoti Randhawa and Anirban Lahiri (tied sixth) capped a superb show by Indians in the $750,000 event, following a fifth and tied sixth place finish respectively. Shiv Kapur, Chiragh Kumar and SSP Chowrasia were in joint 23rd spot with identical totals of five-under-279. Sujjan Singh was a further shot behind in tied 29th place.

Leaderboard: 268 - Gaganjeet Bhullar (64-67-69-68); 271 - Nicholas Fung (MAS, 66-67-72-66), Chapchai Nirat (THA, 67-67-71-66); 272 - Siddikur Rahman (BAN, 71-65-69-67); 273 - Jyoti Randhawa (69-70-65-69); 274 - Antonio Lascuna (PHI, 74-65-67-68), Anirban Lahiri (71-68-67-68), Thaworn Wiratchant (THA, 70-64-69-71), Jazz Janewattananond (THA, 66-66-68-74); 275 - Prom Meesawat (THA, 67-66-71-71), Thongchai Jaidee (THA, 67-67-68-73).

Gaganjeet Bhullar scripts history, wins Indonesia Open - The Times of India