India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar overcame a five-shot overnight deficit with a sublime final round of four-under-67 to record his sixth Asian Tour triumph at the Shinhan Donghae Open here on Sunday.
Bhullar (68-66-68-67), who was tied fourth at the end of round three on Saturday, ended up with a tournament total of 15-under-269 to register a one-shot victory over Zimbabwean Scott Vincent and local lad Taewoo Kim of South Korea at the $1 million event.
Bhullar, who last won on the Asian Tour in 2013, had hit a rough patch over the last two seasons due to a wrist injury that he suffered in 2014. But the 28-year-old from Kapurthala announced his return into the top league of Asian golf with a clinical performance on Sunday that handed him his seventh international title.
Bhullar began the day on a positive note with a birdie on the second. However, a bogey on the fourth brought him back to level-par for the day. He then gathered momentum with consecutive birdies on the sixth and seventh, the latter being a 15-feet conversion.
Bhullar stepped on the accelerator with birdies on the 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th holes. The strapping six-footer was in prime putting form as he sank a 30-footer on the 10th and two more putts from 12 to 15 feet on the 13th and 14th. He unleashed a terrific tee shot on the par-3 12th which set up a three-feet birdie conversion.
Bhullar had a momentary scare when he bogeyed the 16th and 17th but a par on the closing 18th turned out to be good enough to seal the title as Vincent couldn’t birdie the last to take the match into a play-off even as it drizzled here.
Among the other Indians, Khalin Joshi (68-69-69-71) fired a final round of even-par-71 to grab a share of 15th place at seven-under-277 while Jyoti Randhawa (71-71-71-71) who shot four scores of even-par-71, ended tied 54th with a total of even-par-284.
Chikka in top-10
S Chikkarangappa managed a tied ninth place as a bogey-filled back nine spoiled his chances of a better finish at the Mercuries Taiwan Masters on Sunday, reports PTI from Tamsui, Chinese Taipei.
Chikka, who will be playing at the World Cup this year, carded two-over 74, which included four bogeys in last six holes. He finished at three-over 291 for his second top-10 on the Asian Tour this year.
Lu Wei-chih of Chinese Taipei won the Mercuries Taiwan Masters on Sunday to revive his career after going through a brain surgery to remove a non-malignant tumour in mid-2012.