By Rahul Banerji
Gaganjeet Bhullar will one day look back on his Qatar Masters 2021 campaign and probably sum it up as the tale of two putts.
The burly Kapurthala golfer was one shot off the lead when he three-putted for bogey, and then missed out on a birdie that would have tied him for the top spot.
Those two reprieves on Bhullar’s back nine were enough to leave Frenchman Antoine Rozner all by himself atop the leader-board in Doha on Sunday and winner of his second event in his last six starts.
In fact Rozier owed it to his putter as well, dropping an incredible 60-footer on the 18 to win his second European Tour title, this time at the Education City Golf Club after Dubai..
Setting the pace
Bhullar started the day in third place behind South African Darren Fichardt and took an early step up with birdie on five even as Guido Migliozzi set the bar with a bogey-free 65 and 7-under 277 total.
In the clubhouse, the Italian could only watch as he held on till the very end when Rozner sank that heart-breaking putt that broke two ways and gave him sole possession of the lead on 8-under 276.
Still, Bhullar would have fancied his chances.
He had birdied the par-5 hole 13 in impressive fashion flighting his second shot over water and then almost chipping in for eagle from the green-side bunker.
The resultant birdie was immediately cancelled out when the 32-year-old three-putted 14 to drop back two shots off the lead.
Two birdies would follow bit by the time they came along, Rozner had put the issue beyond doubt when he birdied 18 and made sure he could not be caught,
The Frenchman had carded – like Bhullar – a stunning 68 on day three and entered the final 18 holes at three shots off the lead.
On his last hole, it looked like Rozner would need two putts to level with Migliozzi for a play-off but he drained that incredible 60-footer to finish on 67 and an eight under total.
Shared finish
In the end, Bhullar and Fichardt finished alongside Migliozzi one shot behind in shared second place.
Rozner’s victory is his second in his last six events and comes just three months after his maiden win at the Golf in Dubai Championship, europeantour.com said.
He now has two wins in 29 events – making him the quickest from France to two European Tour victories – with just four missed cuts since graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2019.
“It’s unreal,” he said. “In my biggest dreams I couldn’t imagine anything like this happening.
“It’s probably the biggest putt of my career – amazing.
“It’s so early in my career, only my second year on tour. I’m playing great so I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing, playing the way I’ve been playing the last two years.
“I’m excited to see what the future holds for me. It’s very promising.”
Fichardt had an opening birdie to lead by three but Rozner and Migliozzi were on the move as well.
That included Migliozzi turning in 32 with four birdies on his outbound nine and two more after the turn to top the leader-board to set the winning target
Rozner broke a run of nine pars with his killer putt on 18, which meant closing birdies from Fichardt and Bhullar would only get them a share for second.
Fichardt signed for a level par 71, while Bhullar had a closing 69.
Shubhankar Sharma was unable to make headway on Sunday and finished in a tie for 28th place on 1-over 285 with a final level par round.
Also read: Bhullar lands BMW sports coupe with one tee shot at Munich
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