Gaganjeet Bhullar comes of age

Gaganjeet Bhullar comes of age

Gaganjeet Bhullar finally broke through on the Asian Tour by lifting his maiden title at the Indonesia President Invitational.

Long billed as one of the brightest young talent on the Asian Tour, the 20-year-old Indian justified that tag with an emphatic two-stroke victory over Australia's Adam Blyth at the Damai Indah Golf - Bumi Serpong Damai course.

"I've been waiting for this for the past two years. I played really well today and I had a very good finish with a good score today," said Bhullar.

Victory was worth US$63,400 and moved the young Indian up to 10th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

The morale-boosting win has also given Bhullar the belief and conviction that he can now go on and establish himself on the world stage just like fellow compatriot and reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion, Jeev Milkha Singh.

"I've won three times on the Indian circuit this year and my goal a few months back was to win on the Asian Tour. This victory will get me into all the co-sanctioned events now and will give me a lot of confidence in my coming years," said Bhullar.

From his days as the country's top amateur in 2004 to winning the team silver medal at the Doha Asian Games in 2006, his talent has been unmistakable.

The young talent from Kapurthala has already enjoyed 10 amateur wins in the domestic circuit before turning professional in 2006 and the signs were already beckoning for Bhullar to lift his first title on the Asian Tour.

Before his win in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, Bhullar has already posted three top-10s on the Asian Tour this season.

He was also the youngest Indian to qualify for the British Open where he equalled world's number one Tiger Wood's opening score of 71 at the world's oldest major a fortnight ago.

"I will be gunning to be the top Indian golfer now," said Bhullar of his desire to take over the reign from Singh as India's number one.

"My experience from playing with the big boys where Tiger, Ernie Else and Sergio Garcia were competing has certainly helped me a lot," added Bhullar.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee continues to lead the standings on US$749,290.17 with Anthony Kang of the United States in second place on US$372,469.30 and India's Jyoti Randhawa in third with US$246,745.

The Asian Tour heads to Brunei for the Brunei Open 2009 this week. This US$300,00 full field Asian Tour event, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, will once again be staged at the luxurious Empire Hotel and Country Club.


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