Saturday, March 21, 2009
Nirat bags title with record-breaking score
India's Gaganjeet Bhullar finished joint runner-up at the SAIL Open Golf Championship 2009 as he came up with a two under 70 in the final round on Saturday. Chapchai Nirat won the tournament, finishing with a record-breaking 32-under-par 256 total. Nirat fired five under 67 on the final day to finish 11 strokes clear of Bhullar and Australia’s Richard Moir, who were both tied second at 21 under 267.
Chapchai Nirat (62, 62, 65, 67) bagged his third Asian Tour title after ending the tournament with a score that is believed to be one of the lowest in the world at a four-day tournament. Chapchai, who sank five birdies in the fourth round, wrapped up the week by knocking down an eight feet putt for birdie on the 18th with clinical precision.
“I was confident from the very start today. This win has given me a lot of confidence and I think I will now be able to take this momentum forward and probably win two to three more tournaments this year. However, I’m a little disappointed that I did not putt that well in the final round,” said Nirat.
Gaganjeet Bhullar (67, 64, 66, 70) began slowly, dropping a bogey on the opening hole. He then pulled back one stroke by converting a 25 feet birdie putt on the second. A bogey-birdie followed on the seventh and eighth, which meant he made the turn at even par. Bhullar’s chances of claiming lone second place became stronger when he sank a couple of birdies on the 14th and 15th. The 20-year-old then missed a 15-footer for birdie on the closing 18th to slip into joint second along with Richard Moir (66, 67, 66, 68).
Gaganjeet has now posted two runner-up finishes, three top fives and four top-10s on the Asian Tour.
Bhullar said, “It wasn’t easy shooting a low score today as the pin positions were quite tough. My driving was also off the mark in round four. I made only 14 regulations today in comparison to 16 in the previous three rounds.
“The biggest disappointment of the day was missing the 15 feet birdie putt on the final hole. A birdie on the final hole could have helped me finish lone second. Nevertheless, I’m glad to secure my second runner-up finish on the Asian Tour. Chapchai has played fabulous golf through this week and he deserves all the accolades.”
Bhullar added, “My next target is to claim a title on the Asian Tour. I also aim to play at the Japan Golf Tour’s Qualifying School later this year.”
Ashok Kumar was the next best Indian after Bhullar as he secured tied 12th place with a tournament total of 16 under 272.
Amandeep Johl was two strokes behind Ashok in tied 15th place.
Shiv Kapur and Vikrant Chopra grabbed a share of 20th place at 13 under 275 while SSP Chowrasia and Digvijay Singh were joint 27th with matching totals of 12 under 276.
Jyoti Randhawa, Gaurav Ghei and Rahil Gangjee ended the event with identical totals of 10 under 278 to be tied 34th. Mukesh Kumar finished a further stroke behind in tied 39th position.
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