Gaganjeet Bhullar wins Chandigarh Open

Chandigarh, April 6

Indian star and city resident Gaganjeet Bhullar lived up to his billing of being one of the pre-tournament favourites as he outshone all his rivals in the final round to lift the trophy of Rs 1 crore Chandigarh Open at Chandigarh Golf Club.

Karandeep Kochhar among top 10

Chandigarh: Karandeep Kochhar (score of 68) was the third Chandigarh player to finish among the top 10 as he took tied fifth place at 13-under 275. Indian golfing great Jeev Milkha Singh finished tied 42nd at 1-under 287.

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Bhullar (67-67-65-68), a 12-time international winner who was playing at his home course, bagged his 25th career title and 13th win on the PGTI after posting a gritty last round of 4-under 68 to ease to a comfortable four-shot victory with a week’s tally of 21-under 267, which also happened to be the lowest winning total at the Chandigarh Golf Club.

His third win at this club saw him eclipse the previous best 72-hole total at the venue which was 20-under 268 achieved by Ajeetesh Sandhu and Rashid Khan, during the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2019. Sandhu went on to win that event in a playoff.

Angad Cheema (66-67-66-72), another Chandigarh-based pro who was the overnight joint leader along with Bhullar, shot a 72 in round four to finish runner-up at a total of 17-under 271. Bhullar’s ball-striking was on point once again as he found all fairways except one in the final round. His hitting coupled with his good wedge shots and one long conversion on the 15th earned him seven birdies on Saturday at the expense of three bogeys. The 35-year-old Bhullar, a winner on the DP World Tour, established a three-shot lead by the 11th hole and never looked back thereafter.

He took home the winner’s cheque for Rs 15 lakh to be placed seventh on the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking.

“I knew about the 72-hole course record being within my grasp but the target in my mind was 25-under for the week. The way I was playing, I thought I could achieve it. I came close and had those few putts fallen on the back-nine, it was well within my reach,” said Bhullar.

“The key for me was hitting most of the fairways this week. I missed just one fairway today and about four to five through the week.”

Cheema, on the other hand, missed fairways regularly in round four and as a result, could not mount a challenge for the title. He carded a 72 that featured two birdies and two bogeys. His runner-up finish earned him a prize money cheque for Rs 10 lakh and lifted him from sixth to fourth place in the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking. Mysuru’s Yashas Chandra (72) ended the week in third place at 15-under 273 while Abhinav Lohan (68) of Faridabad finished a further shot back in fourth place.