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India's Gaganjeet Bhullar carded 6-under in the USD 2 million International Series Morocco, while Hong Kong's Taichi Kho clinched the prestigious title at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam in Rabat.
Bhullar finished on T31 after registering a par score in the fourth round. He hit four birdies on the final day, but his round was undone by four bogeys. Ajeetesh Sandhu and Karandeep Kochhar finished on T61 with 4-over and 5-over in the final round, respectively. Sandhu had a tough last day on a challenging layout as he registered four bogeys. Kochhar finished with four bogeys and a double bogey apart from a birdie on the third hole. Meanwhile, with just three bogeys in four days, Kho added yet another feather to his cap when he secured his first International Series event. The 25-year-old, who made history for his country by winning its first-ever gold medal in golf at the Hangzhou Games in 2023, was four under par through 10 holes with five birdies to take sole possession of the lead, but struggled to find the sixth that would have given him the breathing space. That birdie finally came when it was needed most - on the par-5 18th hole. Overnight leader and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (70), who was level with Kho after making a birdie from the bunker on the 17th hole, pulled his second shot from the fairway towards the LED screen, and could not make his up-and-down from there. Kho finished on 19-under par total to get his hands on the USD 360,000 winning cheque, which elevates him to No. 2 in the Asian Tour Order of Merit behind Australia's Travis Smyth, and to No. 3 in The International Series Ranking. "It's been a long year. It's had a lot of hardships and a bit of adversity. Through it all, I think I really grew as a person. I realised the work I put in surpasses any results. Golf's a funny game. It really gives and takes, and I was very fortunate the last couple of weeks to be on the good side of it. I just have a lot of gratitude towards the game itself, the people around me, the people who make it possible, "said Kho. It also helped him get over the pain of losing in a playoff on the Japan Golf Tour in the previous week. No wonder Kho was misty-eyed and emotional after the win. The Thai duo of Suteepat Prateeptienchai (69) and Jazz Janewattananond (72) were tied third at -15. It could have been even better, but Suteepat made a bogey-bogey finish, and Jazz dropped a shot on the last. Australian Elvis Smylie, winner of LIV Golf Riyadh earlier this year, made six birdies in his last seven holes for a 66 to join South Africa's in-form Ian Snyman (67), Zimbabwe's Kieran Vincent (67) and Japan's Takanori Konishi (71) in tied fifth place at 14-under. (ANI)
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