Gaganjeet Bhullar of India. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Gaganjeet Bhullar produced a virtuoso performance to win the US$1.5 million BNI Indonesian Masters presented by TNE today, for his fifth title on Indonesian soil and the fourth wire-to-wire win of his career on the Asian Tour.
The 35-year-old from Amritsar eagled the par-five 18th here at Royale Jakarta Golf Club for a closing four-under-par 67 to finish on 24-under, which was five shots ahead of second-placed Karandeep Kochhar, also from India.
Ben Campbell from New Zealand, winner of the Hong Kong Open last Sunday, and Spaniard David Puig shots rounds of 65 and 66 respectively to claim third place, six back of Bhullar – in the final event of the season on The International Series.
It marks the first time Bhullar has raised this trophy, and it will proudly sit alongside three Indonesian Open wins and one Indonesia President Invitational title.
Plus it is the 11th win of his career on the Asian Tour – the most by an Indian, with Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa next best with eight titles.
And it’s also his first victory since winning the Mandiri Indonesia Open in August of last year.
He started the day with a comfortable seven-shot lead and was in complete control before a couple of mistakes over the closing stages kept the large gallery guessing.
On the par-three 15th he shocked everyone when he found water with his tee shot but after taking a drop he played a superb third to six feet and holed the putt for bogey.
His lead was cut to three at that point from Kochhar and Puig and when he left his second shot short in a tricky lie on the grassy slope of a greenside bunker on the par-four 16th it looked as if the gap would be closed further.
However, he made arguably the shot of the tournament when he holed the shot for an unlikely birdie to restore his lead to four.
His eagle on 18 was set up by a beautifully struck fairway wood to 20 feet.
“It wasn’t that easy. This is my fourth Asian Tour wire-to-wire,” said Bhullar, who showed incredible mental fortitude to win having led the event since his opening round 63.
“And this was a victory with a seven-shot lead and I just kept telling myself I have done that in the past and I am ready to do that this week.
“Today I played pretty well actually. I struggled a bit in the middle of the round, there was a stretch when I was trying my level best but I was not making the birdies but the chip in on number 16 turned around everything. And, of course the eagle on the last was the icing on the cake.”
His other wire-to-wire wins came in the Macao Open in 2012 and 2017 and at the 2013 Indonesia Open.
“Overall, I think it is a great sense of achievement for myself and I am really proud of myself,” added Bhullar, who revealed today that his grandma was born in Indonesia.
“I have been doing meditation since I was 14 years old, and I think this is my 17th year on Tour. I learned over the years how to deal with the pressure and especially the conditions and the situation I was in the last three rounds. So, I think the past experience has really helped me.”
An added bonus for him is that his victory catapulted him from 46th place on The International Series Order of Merit to eighth, and it’s only those from second to eight who are fast tracked into the second round of the LIV Golf Promotions event in three weeks’ time in Abu Dhabi. The top three finishers there will earn places on next year’s LIV Golf League.
Kochhar will also be competing in Abu Dhabi and today celebrated his best finish on the Asian Tour.
He said: “Obviously a very good day from start to finish. I told myself that the way I was hitting the ball the last few days I’m gonna have a lot of opportunities, so it was all about being patient.
“And I think I did that very well today. I was patient to throughout, gave myself opportunities and made some good putts down the stretch as well. A couple of good two putts in the end, which I think kind of kept the momentum going. So yeah, overall really pleased and been looking forward to a week off.”
Korean Kyongjun Moon fired a 65 and finished in outright fifth, seven behind the champion.
Malaysia’s Shahriffuddin Ariffin carded rounds of 68-70-68-73 for total five-under 279 and joint 47th place.
The Asian Tour heads to Chinese-Taipei next for the Taiwan Glass Taifong Open. The US$400,000 tournament, which is making its debut on the Asian Tour having previously been played on the Asian Development Tour, will be staged at Taifong Golf Club from November 30 to December 3.
Scores after round 4 of the BNI Indonesian Masters presented by TNE being played at the par 71, 7324 Yards Royale Jakarta Golf Club course (am – denotes amateur):
260 – Gaganjeet Bhullar (IND) 63-67-63-67.
265 – Karandeep Kochhar (IND) 69-68-65-63.
266 – Ben Campbell (NZL) 73-65-63-65, David Puig (ESP) 67-71-62-66.
267 – Kyongjun Moon (KOR) 68-69-65-65.
268 – Richard T. Lee (CAN) 66-67-68-67.
270 – Patrick Reed (USA) 66-68-69-67, Veer Ahlawat (IND) 69-67-65-69.
271 – Miguel Tabuena (PHI) 70-68-69-64, Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA) 70-67-67-67, Micah Lauren Shin (USA) 69-66-68-68.
272 – Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 71-65-68-68.
273 – Seungtaek Lee (KOR) 70-65-67-71.
274 – Graeme McDowell (NIR) 71-68-69-66, Panuphol Pittayarat (THA) 67-69-72-66, Poom Saksansin (THA) 70-66-72-66, Jazz Janewattananond (THA) 66-70-70-68, Phachara Khongwatmai (THA) 65-71-69-69, Nitithorn Thippong (THA) 69-69-67-69, Mingyu Cho (KOR) 69-67-68-70, Yeongsu Kim (KOR) 69-69-66-70, Ben Jones (ENG) 68-68-66-72, Jack Thompson (AUS) 70-68-64-72.
275 – Turk Pettit (USA) 70-70-67-68, Yubin Jang (KOR) 74-66-67-68, Sihwan Kim (USA) 73-66-68-68, Chang Wei-lun (TPE) 70-69-69-67, Jonathan Wijono (INA) 68-69-71-67, Bio Kim (KOR) 68-68-70-69, Neil Schietekat (RSA) 70-69-67-69, David Drysdale (SCO) 71-69-69-66, Junggon Hwang (KOR) 68-71-67-69, James Piot (USA) 71-68-71-65, Travis Smyth (AUS) 66-70-69-70, Gunn Charoenkul (THA) 67-68-69-71.
276 – Rashid Khan (IND) 69-68-71-68, Zach Murray (AUS) 67-68-71-70, Yikeun Chang (KOR) 70-69-71-66, Chapchai Nirat (THA) 67-70-73-66.
277 – Settee Prakongvech (THA) 68-72-67-70.
278 – Prom Meesawat (THA) 70-69-69-70, Lee Chieh-po (TPE) 67-70-70-71, Danthai Boonma (THA) 67-69-72-70, Andy Ogletree (USA) 74-65-70-69, Kieran Vincent (ZIM) 69-70-72-67, Todd Sinnott (AUS) 70-70-71-67.
279 – Douglas Klein (AUS) 71-68-68-72, Siddikur Rahman (BAN) 71-67-69-72, Bjorn Hellgren (SWE) 67-70-69-73, Shahriffuddin Ariffin (MAS) 68-70-68-73, Wade Ormsby (AUS) 66-70-69-74, Bai Zhengkai (CHN) 73-66-72-68, Sam Brazel (AUS) 70-70-71-68.
280 – Jasper Stubbs (am, AUS) 71-69-67-73, Jaco Ahlers (RSA) 67-69-74-70.
281 – Kosuke Hamamoto (THA) 68-72-67-74, Dominic Foos (GER) 68-71-68-74, Taehee Lee (KOR) 73-67-70-71.
282 – Chan Shih-chang (TPE) 71-67-72-72, Jarin Todd (USA) 70-70-73-69.
283 – Angelo Que (PHI) 71-69-70-73, Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 69-71-73-70.
284 – Paul Peterson (USA) 65-73-75-71.
285 – Thomas Pieters (BEL) 70-70-71-74, Taichi Kho (HKG) 69-71-72-73.
288 – Justin Quiban (PHI) 69-69-74-76.
289 – Anirban Lahiri (IND) 73-67-77-72.
290 – Honey Baisoya (IND) 65-73-73-79, Jeremy Gandon (FRA) 69-70-75-76.
292 – Yoseop Seo (KOR) 69-71-78-74.
296 – Kevin Akbar (INA) 73-67-78-78.
