Daily Times

SUVA: India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar chipped in from off the green to record an eagle on the 17th hole to propel himself to a one-shot victory in the Fiji International over Australia’s Anthony Quayle at the Natadola Bay Championship Golf Course on Sunday. The 30-year-old’s eagle gave him the lead over the Queenslander, who shot an impressive nine-under 63 while playing with South African great Ernie Els. Bhullar made par on the final hole, leaving his birdie putt a matter of inches short, to finish with a six-under 66 and 14-under total of 274 to give him his ninth win on the Asian tour. Quayle finished on 275, while Els shot a seven-under 65 to tie for third with New Zealand’s Ben Campbell. Both finished on 12-under 276. “I was in basically the same place on day two and the flag was on the same side of the green so I had a little bit of an idea that the chip would run a lot,” Bhullar said of the tournament-winning shot on the par-five 17th. “It wasn’t an easy chip. I could have settled for an up and down … but I knew that I would need to go birdie-birdie to have a chance to push for a playoff. “I think the chip in … closed the deal.” Bhullar had held a one-stroke lead heading into the final round and started solidly with three birdies in his first four holes but then said he was struggling as he approached the turn in difficult, windy conditions. Despite making his fourth birdie of the round on the par-five ninth, he was forced to save par on the 10th hole that he felt arrested what could have been a slide downhill on the back nine.

Published in Daily Times, August 6^th 2018.