India’s Ganganjeet Bhullar poses with the trophy after his win at the Shinhan Donghae Open in Incheon. (Photo: PTI)
India’s Ganganjeet Bhullar poses with the trophy after his win at the Shinhan Donghae Open in Incheon. (Photo: PTI)
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 in Incheon on Sunday.
Bhullar (68-66-68-67), who was tied fourth at the end of the 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 with 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 playoff even as it drizzled at the Bears Best Cheongna Golf Club.
“The goal was to make a good start to the day and I achieved that by being two-under through the front-nine.”
