Gaganjeet regains Indonesian Open title
PETALING JAYA: Gaganjeet Bhullar reclaimed the Indonesian Open crown after closing with a four-under 68 to win by three shots.
The 28-year-old Indian parred his remaining three holes at the Pondok Indah Golf Course in Jakarta yesterday for a 16-under 272. Play was abandoned on Sunday due to inclement weather with 19 players yet to complete their round.
Gaganjeet pocketed US$54,000 (RM238,000). It was his seventh Asian Tour crown and second of the season.
Veteran Jeev Milkha Singh, who trailed Gaganjeet by two shots going into yesterday’s last three holes, saw his hopes vanished after bogeying the 17th. He had a 72.
The 44-year-old Jeev, a winner of 14 titles worldwide, settled for joint second with Thai duo Danthai Boonma (67) and Panuphol Pittayarat ( 68) and American Johannes Veerman (69) on 275.
“It’s never easy in a Monday finish especially when you only have a two-shot lead. I slept at 7pm last night and woke up at 2am because there was so much adrenaline rush.
“I just couldn’t focus on anything,” said Gaganjeet, who won his first Indonesian Open in 2013.
“I just could not divert my mind anywhere else apart from the last few holes. At the end of the day I’m proud of myself and I’m glad I pulled it off,” added Gaganjeet, whose other win of the season came at the Shinhan Donghae Open in South Korea in September.
Malaysia’s Sukree Othman finished joint 36th while Ben Leong ended up in 43rd place. Sukree collected US$1,982 (RM8,750) while Ben earned US$1,695 (RM7,485).