Another top-5 finish for consistent Gaganjeet Bhullar in Indonesia Open golf
The 30-year-old Gaganjeet Bhullar, who has time and again put himself in contention in the last weeks, did so yet again.
Gaganjeet Bhullar earned yet another top-5 finish, at the $500,000 Bank BRI Indonesia Open here today, but a victory continued to elude the Indian golfer.
The 30-year-old, who has time and again put himself in contention in the last weeks did so yet again.
However, in the end despite a fourth successive round in the 60s, he ended three shots behind Justin Harding of South Africa. Harding carded a one-under-par 71 to win his maiden Asian Tour title.
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After T-2 in Korea and then sole second in Queens Cup and T-11 in Sarawak, Bhullar was sole fifth this week.
Compatriot Udayan Mane (70) was T-6 and Khalin Joshi (71) was T-13.
Among other Indians, Honey Baisoya (69) was T-40, Jyoti Randhawa (76) T-50, Chiragh Kumar (70), Himmat Rai (73) 68th and Shiv Kapur (75) T-70.
Bhullar, who has won before in Indonesia in 2013 and 2016, began strongly with three birdies in the first six holes, but dropped a shot on eighth. On the back nine he played aggressively.
Bhullar said, “It was a solid round of golf. I made a few good birdies. Most of them were tricky putts. I was looking at the leaderboard and motivating myself to get up there. For the final few holes, I was particularly aggressive because I was hitting the ball well.”
He was happy about his swing and added, “My swing is on the way to being fixed. I see plenty of progressions and the goal is to be really consistent and get to my peak really soon. I’m working really hard.”
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Mane, who had five birdies but three successive bogeys from eighth to 10th, said, “A top-five finish is always great, but I’m not happy about what happened during the middle of the round.
“The wind affected my play on the eighth. On the ninth, I put myself in a decent position but I three-putted. At the 10th, I was so upset with my bogeys so I skipped my thought process and three-putted.”
He went on, “I’m close to a win. I have a blueprint of my scoring capabilities on this Tour.”
Harding, 32, who missed only three greens-in-regulation before the final round, uncharacteristically dropped two shots on holes seven and eight. He bounced back when it mattered with two birdies before emerging victorious with 18-under-par 270 at the Pondok Indah Golf Course.
