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Indian star Gaganjeet Bhullar lived up to his billing as one of the pre-tournament favourites after he outshined all his rivals in the final round to lift the Chandigarh Open 2024 trophy hosted at Chandigarh Golf Club.
Bhullar (67-67-65-68), a 12-time international winner who was playing at his home course this week, bagged his 25th career title and 13th win on the PGTI after posting a gritty last round of four-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. Gaganjeet's third win at the Chandigarh Golf 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 at the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational 2019. Ajeetesh 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. Gaganjeet 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 Gaganjeet, a winner on the DP World Tour, established a three-shot lead by the 11th hole and never looked back thereafter. Bhullar, who took home the winning cheque worth Rs. 15 lakh to be placed seventh on the TATA Steel PGTI Ranking, said, "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 fall on the back-nine, it was well within my reach. "Nonetheless, 21-under is a great score. I could not start off well this year, so I needed a really solid week here at home to give me a boost for the rest of the season. A win in the first half of the year is just what I was looking for. "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." Angad Cheema, on the other hand, missed fairways regularly in round four and as a result, could not mount a challenge for the title. Angad carded a 72 that featured two birdies and two bogeys. His runner-up finish earned him a prize money cheque worth 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. Karandeep Kochhar (68) was the third Chandigarh player to finish inside the top-10, as he took tied fifth place at 13-under 275. Indian golfing great Jeev Milkha Singh finished tied 42nd at one-under 287. Final Leaderboard: 267: Gaganjeet Bhullar (67-67-65-68); 271: Angad Cheema (66-67-66-72) 273: Yashas Chandra (67-66-68-72) 274: Abhinav Lohan (72-67-67-68). (ANI)
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