Next big thing?

Nestled on the back of a victory-lashed amateur career,expectations had followed Bhullar into his toddler professional life. But for a year and a half,he had only threatened to break through. Till March this year,he was the greenhorn who would come good,sooner or later. Then the first win came,at the wind-swept Panchkula Golf Club this March on the domestic circuit,and Bhullar was double quick in tripling that number,winning in Jaipur,and then in Aamby Valley,in under two months. In between,he managed to stuff in a second-place finish at the scoring haven of this year’s SAIL Open,two other Asian Tour top-ten finishes,and after a two-round qualifying jackpot in Singapore,stunningly found himself being handed a ticket to the British Open of his childhood TV evenings in Kapurthala.

Half a month of trudging around links golf in Scotland had ended two rounds earlier than he would’ve liked,but Bhullar then flew straight to the Indonesia President Invitational in Jakarta and walked out holding the trophy. It has made him the youngest Indian winner of an international professional tournament,leaving the tag of hope fastened just that bit stronger. He talks of making it to the US PGA Tour and surpassing Jeev Milkha Singh,the most successful Indian golfer in terms of rankings. It’s still a long journey for the big-hitting,hard-practising,hip-hop-listening youngster who has suddenly been thrown into the world of fleeting flashlights.

First brush
Dreams similar in making,if not in magnitude,had been unleashed a little over 10 years ago. And like this time,they were sparked off with a metal trophy. Railways sports inspector Harbhajan Singh decided that the December holidays from school were the perfect time to take his golf-playing nine-year-old to Mumbai — he had just found out about the Indian Golf Union’s tournaments for the under-10 age group.

So young Gaganjeet played his first-ever tournament,a three-day event,and the family spent the next day sightseeing around town. “It was a four-day event for the older kids,and we didn’t bother going for the prize distribution the next day. At the railway station in the night at Bombay Central,the family of another participant,who were travelling back with us,came and handed us a trophy case,saying Gaganjeet had finished second,” Harbhajan Singh says. All through the night and the next day,little Gaganjeet ran through the train showing his trophy to every stranger. “We got back home late in the night. At 5 the next morning,I remember it was a terribly foggy December day,Gaganjeet was standing with his golf bag,insisting he wanted to go the course right away,” Harbhajan laughs. “He had started playing while accompanying me to the course on weekends,but after that he was sure he wanted to play golf.”

Back in those days,it wasn’t the most obvious dream to have in Kapurthala. “There would be hardly four-five players at the golf course,” Bhullar says. “It was a little difficult at the start to visualise myself as a professional golfer,but by the time I was in class VII,I was totally focused on trying.”

His mother had hoped he would study to become an engineer,Bhullar says,but he began playing the junior,then the amateur circuit,and kept winning titles by the dozen. In his last amateur season in 2005-06,he won five titles in a row,finishing as the top-ranked player,something he had also done in 2004.

Then going to Doha as the last of his targets before turning professional,he led the Indian boys’ team to a silver medal at the Asian Games. It was turning out to be a perfect transition,says childhood friend Shrey Chopra,who used to be Bhullar’s only company most times at the golf course.

“He has planned his career in the copybook style,and that is probably why success has begun coming early,” Chopra says. “He was always perfect with his practices,always insistent on correcting mistakes as soon as he could.”

Almost,but not quite
The early success had almost come earlier. Two years ago,just months after turning professional and in his rookie season on the Asian Tour,Bhullar went into the last day of the same Indonesia President Invitational in joint lead and shot a three-under 69,still leading when he finished. Waiting for the confirmation of victory,Bhullar had to watch Philippines’s Juvic Pagunsan come out and end his round with a birdie and an eagle,snatching away the prize that was all but Bhullar’s.

He refuses to accept it bogged him down,but the first title did keep eluding Bhullar. “I was very low for a few moments after that,but then I told myself that maybe I hadn’t practised enough,that maybe Juvic deserved it more,” he says. “I knew another chance would come.”

It did,at the same tournament by some strange twist,and though a chaser was pursuing him this time as well — Australia’s Adam Blyth was playing a few groups and a few shots back — his third round of 10-under and a three-birdie blitz early in the last round had given Bhullar more of a cushion. It pulled him through in the end.

Last year,Bhullar,on a limited country spot on the Asian Tour,had gone into the last but one event — the Cambodia Open — hovering around the 2009 cut-off mark on the money list. He shot a 64 in the final round and that helped him finish 65th on the circuit. Sixty-five players get full cards.

“Setbacks are good for Gaganjeet,” Chopra says. “He is a really determined guy who wants to practise and remove the flaws in his game rather than complain.”

Bhullar also decided to bring in a different sort of improvement,that in his on-course,and specifically,last-day mindset. Sports psychologist Pradeep Aggarwal travelled to Turnberry with Bhullar,a big affirmation of just how much help he is turning out to be. “Golf is a lot about talking to yourself,” Aggarwal says. “If you picture missing a putt,there are more chances of you missing it rather than when you picture it dropping in. And that’s how we worked on Gaganjeet. It’s a day-to-day exercise on visualising the entire round before you play it,but with Gagan now,it’s also important that he doesn’t forget what makes him win.”

What lies ahead
Years ago,Bhullar had pictured himself at a British Open course too,says friend Chopra. “For a small putt during practice,we used to tell each other to imagine that it was the one to win the British Open,” he says. Bhullar recalls: “This was one Major championship which came at the perfect time to watch during evenings (all the others are held in the US and therefore telecast late at night) so there was a special link.”

But now that he’s got a taste of it,he doesn’t want to stop. “I’d planned on going to Japan for a step up,but now that I’ve won on the Asian Tour,it will give me better tournaments to play,some of the co-sanctioned events with the European Tour too. I’m really excited.”

Jeev Milkha Singh endorses the viewpoint of Bhullar being possibly the next big thing. “He’s one of the leading ones among the best youngsters we have got in golf in the country right now,” Jeev says. “He is just 21 years old but he has a huge hunger to prove himself and make his mark.”

The serious,hard-working,polite image that the 21-year-old gives out,though,has another side to it,friend Chopra insists. “We used to travel for the junior tournaments and usually room together. He always had me in splits through the week. He cracks jokes all the time and he’s a very good mimic artist even now,” he says. “Angel Cabrera (the reigning Masters champion) is one player he imitates really well,and also most of the top Indian pros.”

As things stand,he’s well on his way to imitating them on the golf course as well.

Away hits: Indians with wins outside the sub-continent
Jeev Milkha Singh
Turned pro: 1993
First win abroad: 1993 Bukit Kaira Championship,Malaysia
Age at the time of first win: 22
Titles: 20 (3 European Tour,6 Asian Tour,4 Japan tour,7 others)
Status: World No 41,plays all the big tours around the world

Gaurav Ghei
Turned pro: 1991
First win abroad:1994 Desaru Classic,Malaysia
Age at the time of first win: 26
Titles:3 (Asian Tour)
Status: Still plays on the Asian Tour,but hasn’t had a great finish in the last two years

Arjun Atwal
Turned pro: 1995
First win abroad: 2000 Star Alliance Open,Hong Kong
Age at the time of first win:27
Titles: 13 (3 European Tour,7 Asian Tour,1 Nationwide Tour,2 others)
Status: Regained the PGA Tour card through his Nationwide Tour win last season

Jyoti Randhawa
Turned pro:1994
First win abroad:2000 Singapore Open
Age at the time of first win:28
Titles:10 (8 Asian Tour,1 Japan tour,1 other)
Status:Plays regularly on the European Tour,Asian Tour

Rahil Gangjee
Turned pro:2000
First win abroad:2004 Volkswagen Masters,China
Age at the time of first win:26
Titles:1
Status: Missed out on a full Asian Tour card for the current season,is trying to make his way back

Shiv Kapur
Turned pro:2004
First win abroad:2005 Volvo Masters of Asia,Thailand
Age at the time of first win:23
Titles:1
Status:Has a European Tour card,also plays on the Asian Tour