Wrist issues a thing of past, Gaganjeet Bhullar wins sixth Asian Tour title

But with the heavy rain pelting down on the Bear’s Best Cheongna Golf Club, the 28-year-old emerged as the most unlikely winner of the Shinhan Donghae Open to end his three-year title drought. “Two years, 10 months and one day,” he reminds you. “It’s been a hard, frustrating wait. Every day of it.”

When he lined up at the first tee on Sunday morning, the thought of competing for the title did not even cross his mind. Bhullar was five shots behind overnight leader Thailand’s Thitiphun Chuayprakong, and three behind home favourite Taewoo Kim.

Sundays, in golf, have produced some memorable come-back-from-the-dead stories. But Bhullar wasn’t naive to believe that he stood a chance to lift the trophy. For that, two things had to happen – to erase the five-shot deficit, he needed to have a near-flawless round coupled with Thitiphun having a disastrous one.

So Bhullar went about his business as usual, content making the cut and pushing for a high finish on the leaderboard. Playing without any burden, he birdied the sixth, seventh (a sublime 15-foot putt), 10th, 12th, 13th and 14 holes. Bhullar was unaware all the while that Thitiphun, playing in the leader group ahead of him, was crumbling.

Waiting for his turn on the 15th tee, he glanced at the leaderboard for the first time. “That’s when I realised I was in the lead. Before the 14th hole, I didn’t even know I stood a chance to win,” he says, still sounding surprised. He had a three-shot lead with just four holes left to play.

There was some late twist when he bogeyed the 16th and 17th but fortunately for Bhullar, it wouldn’t end in a heartbreak. He hung on to par the 18th to claim his first title since winning the Indonesian Open in 2013. “It wasn’t easy. It was raining all the time and got heavier on the back nine. But I kept my cool, used my past experience,” he says. “This win means a lot to me. I’ve gone through one of the lowest phases of my career.”

Lowest phase
The title comes at a crucial stage in Bhullar’s career. When he won the Indonesia President Invitational as a 21-year-old in 2009, Bhullar was seen as the next big thing in Indian golf; the man who would continue the march propelled by the generation before him, the likes of Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa.

He walked the talk, winning six international titles between 2009 and 2013. Then, his wrist acted up. In October 2014, tore a ligament in his left wrist, which kept him out of action till January 2015. “It was an extremely frustrating phase. Not easy at all. You just sit at home, do nothing, watch your friends competing in tournaments, play golf… it wasn’t easy. Even when I started practicing, I struggled in tournament play,” he says.

Bhullar returned in early 2015 but the injury continued to bother him. It severely affected his short game (chips and putts) and the lingering fear of the pain resurfacing showed in his performances. Last year, he managed just one top 10 finish (and missed the cut in five out of the six tournaments he played in after returning from injury). This year, too, he had just one top 10 finish in the 12 tournaments on Asian Tour before the Shinhan Donghae Open. It resulted in him losing his credentials to play on the European Tour and his world ranking was on a freefall. “I had to do a lot of strengthening exercises – basic stuff in the gym. But the wrist pains even now. Last week it was hurting. This week it was fine,” he says.

At the start of the tournament, maybe Bhullar would’ve been content if you’d have told him it would be four days without any pain in the wrist. In the larger scheme of things, the title though significant, seems incidental. “Also a huge confidence booster. This result is a huge psychological relief. Takes a away a lot of doubts and gives a reassurance that the wrist is fine. I can focus on my game more, now,” says Bhullar, who is the first Indian since Jeev in 1994 to win this title.

The title, which earns him a prize money of $194,400, also helps Bhullar jump 51 places in Asian Order of Merit to be placed at 10th. His world ranking, which is an abysmal 674 at the moment, too is likely to move up considerably when its released on Monday.

“Getting the European Tour card is the next big target since the win here has given a winners status and the five-year exemption,” he says. “And also be more consistent; remain in contention. I don’t want to wait this long for my next title.”

NUMBERS

7 –  This was Gaganjeet Bhullar’s seventh international title, and his sixth on the Asian circuit. The triumph, though, was his first after 2013.

10 – With his magnificent win, Gaganjeet  will be soon burst into the top 10 in the Asian rankings. He is currently placed 10th in Asia,  which is a leap of 51 slots. In the world rankings, he is place at 674, which is also bound to improve with this impressive show.