By Rahul Banerji
Gaganjeet Bhullar battled through a rash of dropped shots and four changes in the final day lead to bring home the winner’s cheque at the Tata Steel Tour Championship in Jamshedpur on Sunday.
Bhullar aggregated 24-under-264 at the event for his 10th trophy on the Professional Golf Tour of India and the first in nine years on the tour.
The final day saw fortunes swing as Bhullar, Chikkarangappa S. and Khalin Joshi, S.S.P. Chawrasia and Noida’s Amardeep Malik all led or held the joint lead at different stages.
Bangalore’s Chikkarangappa finished runner-up with a final 68 that moved his total to 22-under-266.
Chikka’s second place finish lifted him from 11th to second position in the PGTI Order of Merit.
Fellow-Bangalorean Joshi (69) finished third on 21-under-267, Kolkata’s Rahil Gangjee, with a day’s best of 67, took tied fourth place on 20-under-268 along with city-mate S.S.P. Chawrasia (72).
Malik misses out
Noida Golf Course’s Malik (73), joint third round leader with Bhullar and Chawrasia, closed the week in sixth place on 19-under-269, PGTI media office said.
The top 27 out of 53 played their first nine holes at Golmuri and second nine at Beldih. The remaining 26 players played at Beldih first and then Golmuri.
Kapurthala’s Bhullar (69-63-64-68), a winner of 10 titles on the European and Asian Tours, needed all his experience to come through despite dropping five shots (three bogeys and a double-bogey) on Sunday.
The 32-year-old, who holds the Indian record of nine wins on the Asian Tour, took early charge with birdies on the first, third and fourth holes thanks to accurate iron and wedge shots.
Midway wobble
Bhullar’s troubles began on the fifth where he double-bogeyed after finding the hazard. He missed an up and down on the next hole to drop another shot.
Part of the team that won silver at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, Bhullar pulled one back with a 15-foot birdie conversion on the eighth before conceding another bogey soon after the turn.
He then added two more birdies before finding trouble once again four shots from home when he landed in the trees and took a bogey.
Bhullar was now two behind Chikka and Joshi after 15 holes but turned things around when he chipped in for eagle on the 16th and sank a 20-footer for birdie on the 17th.
As Chikka and Joshi stumbled on the 18th with a bogey and a double respectively, Bhullar sealed the win by a two-shot margin after par on the final hole.
Gaganjeet took home a winner’s cheque worth Rs. 24,24,750 ($32,900 approx) and stands to make major gains in the world ranking from 807th place with five Official World Golf Ranking points for his win.
“Honestly, I was not at all expecting to win this week,” Bhullar said later.
“This week the first goal for me was to make the cut. But I kept gaining momentum with each passing round and played four solid rounds where my putting was very consistent.
Turning point
“I did shoot a nine-under on day two but it was the third round of 64 that really put me in contention.
“That’s when I knew that I had a really good chance to win. I was aware of the fact that whenever I have been in contention in recent times, I have gone on to win.
“I believed in myself on the final day despite the ups and downs during the round.
“The eagle and birdie on the final stretch came just at the right time for me.
“It’s been great being back on the PGTI and registering my first win on the tour since my 2011 victory in Chandigarh.
“I played two events on the PGTI this month and the competition has been very intense, which is a great sign of things to come for Indian golf.”
While runner-up Chikka mixed seven birdies with three bogeys during his 68, third-placed Khalin sank five birdies at the expense of a double-bogey for his 69.
Anirban Lahiri (68) took 11th place on 14-under-274 and Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar (72), who continues to lead the PGTI Order of Merit, finished 14th on 12-under-276,
Shiv Kapur (69) was tied 16th on 10-under-278 and Jyoti Randhawa (81) T30 on 5-under-283.
Also read: Malik in three-way tie for Tour Championship honours
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