Gaganjeet Bhullar

Gaganjeet Bhullar
— Golfer —
Personal information
Full name Gaganjeet Singh Bhullar
Born (1988-04-27) 27 April 1988
Amritsar, India
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Nationality  India
Residence Kapurthala, India
Career
Turned professional 2006
Current tour(s) Asian Tour
Professional Golf Tour of India
Professional wins 17
Number of wins by tour
Asian Tour 7
Challenge Tour 1
Other 9
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament DNP
U.S. Open DNP
The Open Championship CUT: 2009
PGA Championship DNP
Achievements and awards
Arjuna Award 2013

Gaganjeet Singh Bhullar (born 27 April 1988) is an Indian professional golfer who plays on the Asian Tour. He was awarded Arjuna Award in 2013.[1]

Amateur career

Bhullar was born to Sikh parents in Kapurthala, India. He was India's number one amateur in 2004 and 2006 and was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games. He finished in a tie for seventh in the individual competition. Bhullar turned professional in 2006.

Professional career

2006-2008

Bhullar started his professional career on the Professional Golf Tour of India where he has yet to miss a cut. He played in seven events in the 2006-07 season and never finished lower than T-18. He also recorded three top ten finishes, including two runners-up. He finished fifth on the tour's Order of Merit list. In 2007-08, he played in 14 events and recorded 10 top-10 finishes, including three runners-up. For the second year in a row, he finished in fifth on the Order of Merit. 2009 has been Bhullar's most successful year on tour but he has played in fewer tournaments due to his concentration on the Asian Tour. Bhullar has won three of the four tournaments he has played in. He won the PGTI Players Championship at Panchkula Golf Club in March, his first professional victory. He also won the PGTI Players Championship presented by Rambagh Golf Club and the PGTI Players Championship presented by Aamby Valley Golf Club in back to back weeks in May. He finished in a tie for second at the SAIL Open which was co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour.

Bhullar began his career on the Asian Tour in 2007. He played in nine events, making seven cuts while recording a runner up finish at the Indonesia President Invitational. He finished in 77th on the Order of Merit with $52,413. 2008 was Bhullar's first full season on the Asian Tour. He played in 21 events, making 14 cuts while recording one top-10 finish. He didn't secure his tour card for 2009 until the second to last tournament of the year, when he finished T-11 at the Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open. Bhullar entered the tournament in 67th on the Order of Merit, needing to finish in the top 65 to earn his tour card for 2009. Neven Basic, who was in 65th, missed the cut so on the final day of the event it was a battle between Bhullar and Adam Groom, who was in 66th. Bhullar entered the day three shots behind Groom but shot the best round of the day (64) while Groom shot a 75. The combination of Bhullar's eight under round and Groom's poor performance put Bhullar into 65th, only $681 ahead of Groom.[2]

2009

Bhullar's 2009 season started out slow but eventually picked up. Between March and July, Bhullar made four of six cuts, finishing in the top-10 four times. He recorded a runner up finish at the SAIL Open and recorded his first victory on the Asian Tour in July at the Indonesia President Invitational. The victory catapulted him into 10th on the Order of Merit and he jumped from 417 to 255 in the Official World Golf Rankings.[3] The victory also makes Bhullar the youngest Indian to win on the Asian Tour and gives him exempt status on the Asian Tour until 2011.[4]

The week before his win in Indonesia, Bhullar played in his first major at the 2009 Open Championship. He qualified for the Open by winning the Asian International Final Qualifying in April.[5] Bhullar put himself into position to make the cut after the first round, shooting a 71 (+1) which put him in a tie for fifteenth but his second round of 77 (+7) saw him miss the cut by four strokes. Bhullar is the youngest Indian to play in a major.

One week after his win in Indonesia, Bhullar almost picked up his second win on the Asian Tour at the Brunei Open. On the 72nd hole of the tournament he had an eight-foot birdie putt to win the tournament but he missed it. He went into a playoff with Darren Beck and Boonchu Ruangkit. Boonchu was eliminated after bogeying the second hole and Beck won the tournament on the third hole when he scored a birdie while Bhullar made par.[6] The runner-up finish helped him jump from 255 to 203rd in the Official World Golf Rankings. He ended up finishing the year 6th on the Order of Merit.

Bhullar picked up his fourth win on the Professional Golf Tour of India at the PGTI Players Championship presented by Eagleton. The win elevated him to first on the tour's Order of Merit.[7] But the very next week, Mukesh Kumar won his 3rd event of the season, replacing Bhullar at the top of the Order of Merit. His 5th win of the season came in September at the DLF Masters, winning by 5 strokes. The victory launched Bhullar to first on the Order of Merit but he finished the year in 5th. Bhullar played in the fewest events out of anyone in the top 25, a stat which greatly contributed to his 5th-place finish.

2010

Bhullar represented Asia for the 2010 Royal Trophy where Europe pulled out a narrow victory. Bhullar picked up his first victory on the Asian Tour in February at the Asian Tour International. Bhullar was six strokes behind the leader going into the final round but shot a 64 (-8) to win the event by one stroke. Bhullar's superb round set a new course record at Suwan Golf and Country Club.[8] The victory launched him from 174th to 115th in the Official World Golf Rankings, his highest ranking to date. Two months later, Bhullar finished in sixth at the SAIL Open in his home country.

Bhullar won his sixth title on the Professional Golf Tour of India at the PGTI Players Championship in May. Bhullar recorded two triple bogeys on the front nine during round three but made a fantastic recovery in the last 27 holes to win the tournament. On the back nine in the third round he shot six under and then shot a 6 under in the final round to secure the championship.[9] He finished the year 8th in the ROLEX Rankings with five top ten finishes in seven events and no missed cuts.[10]

Bhullar received a special invitation to play in the Japan PGA Championship due to his consistent performances in India and Asia.[11] He missed the cut after shooting an 80 in the second round. In his first European Tour event of the year, Bhullar finished tied for 30th in the Estoril Open de Portugal. Later in the month, he played in two tour events in India, finishing tied for third and tied for twelfth. Bhullar continued his success on the Asian Tour in July with a fourth-place finish at the Brunei Open. In September, Bhullar notched another top ten finish at the Handa Singapore Classic where he finished in a tie for 8th. Bhullar finished the year 17th on the Order of Merit, earning $165,225. He recorded four top ten finishes and only missed two cuts in 14 events.

2011

In January 2011 Bhullar won the inaugural Gujarat Kensville Challenge to become the first Indian player to win a tournament on the Challenge Tour,[12] the official development tour organised by the PGA European Tour.

On 29 January, Bhullar won the Bangladesh Open on the Professional Golf Tour of India, thanks to a 64 (-8) in the third round, the best round of the tournament by two strokes.[13] The following week he won the PGTI Players Championship in similar fashion, shooting the best round of the tournament in the third round, 65 (-7). This is the second time in his career that he has won back to back tournaments on the PGTI. On 5 March he won his third PGTI event of the year at the Aircel PGTI Players Championship.

2012

Bhullar won the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship on 17 September 2012.[14] The following month he won the Venetian Macau Open.[15]

2013

Bhullar's 2013 season started on good note. In March, Bhullar finished runner-up at Avantha Masters, earning him prize money of $258,700. He scored 20-under 268, but lost to South African Thomas Aiken by three strokes.[16]

In August, he became seventh golfer to receive the Arjuna Award since its introduction in 1961.[1]

Later in December, he won his fifth Asian Tour title with the victory at Indonesia Open. He defeated Malaysian Nicholas Fung and Chapchai Nirat from Thailand.[17] His first tournament win of the season pushed him up to fourth place on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit. The win improved Bhullar's chances to qualify for the Ryder Cup-styled EurAsia Cup where the top four Asian players at the end of the 2013 season qualify for Team Asia.[18]

Amateur wins (1)

Professional wins (17)

Gaganjeet Bhullar

Asian Tour wins (7)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 26 Jul 2009 Indonesia President Invitational −22 (69-68-62-67=266) 2 strokes Australia Adam Blyth
2 7 Feb 2010 Asian Tour International −11 (71-71-71-64=277) 1 stroke South Korea Hwang Inn-choon
3 16 Sep 2012 Yeangder Tournament Players Championship −12 (66-69-69=204) 4 strokes United States Jason Knutzon, Thailand Thaworn Wiratchant
4 14 Oct 2012 Venetian Macau Open −16 (63-68-69-68=268) 2 strokes United States Jonathan Moore
5 1 Dec 2013 Indonesia Open −16 (64-67-69-68=268) 3 strokes Malaysia Nicholas Fung, Thailand Chapchai Nirat
6 2 Oct 2016 Shinhan Donghae Open^ −15 (68-66-68-67=269) 1 stroke South Korea Kim Tae-woo, Zimbabwe Scott Vincent
7 21 Nov 2016 Bank BRI-JCB Indonesia Open −16 (71-65-68-68=272) 3 strokes Thailand Danthai Boonma, Thailand Panuphol Pittayarat,
India Jeev Milkha Singh, United States Johannes Veerman

Challenge Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 16 Jan 2011 Gujarat Kensville Challenge −5 (70-70-68-75=283) 1 stroke England Matt Ford

Professional Golf Tour of India wins (9)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 15 Mar 2009 PGTI Players Championship
at Panchkula Golf Club		 −19 (65-73-66-65=269) 7 strokes India Vijay Kumar, India Harendra P. Gupta
2 2 May 2009 PGTI Players Championship
presented by Rambagh Golf Club		 −10 (73-67-65-65=270) Playoff India Himmat Rai
3 9 May 2009 PGTI Players Championship
presented by Aamby Valley Golf Club		 −21 (66-67-66-68=267) 10 strokes India Harmeet Kahlon
4 16 Aug 2009 PGTI Players Championship
presented by Eagleton		 −13 (68-69-69-69=275) 3 strokes India Abhishek Jha
5 20 Sept 2009 DLF Masters −15 (68-68-69-68=273) 5 strokes India Anirban Lahiri
6 7 May 2010 PGTI Players Championship
presented by Bombay Presidency Golf Club		 −7 (66-71-70-66=273) 1 stroke India Shamim Khan, Bangladesh Mohammad Siddikur
7 29 Jan 2011 American Express Bangladesh Open −14 (68-71-64-71=274) 2 strokes Bangladesh Mohammad Siddikur
8 5 Feb 2011 PGTI Players Championship
presented by Royal Calcutta Golf Club		 −13 (69-69-65-72=275) 2 strokes India Shiv Chowrasia
9 5 March 2011 Aircel PGTI Players Championship
presented by Chandigarh Golf Club		 −11 (67-70-72-68=277) 2 strokes India Vijay Kumar, India Chiragh Kumar, India Shankar Das

Results in major championships

Tournament 2009
Masters Tournament DNP
U.S. Open DNP
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship DNP

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

Team appearances

Amateur

Professional

See also

References

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