HONG KONG (AFP) – India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar held his nerve to complete a wire-to-wire victory and lift his eighth Asian Tour title at the Macau Open on Sunday.
Bhullar had seen his four-shot lead reduced to one in round three but on Sunday, he drained five birdies on the front nine and won by three shots despite a nerve-jangling double bogey on 16.
The 29-year-old fired rounds of 64, 65, 74 and 68 for an aggregate score of 13-under 271, lifting his first Asian Tour trophy of the year.
Bhullar’s fellow Indian Ajeetesh Sandhu and Filipino Angelo Que shared second place at par-71 Macau Golf and Country Club, while Taiwan’s Hung Chien-Yao was alone in fourth.
Sandhu was gunning for his third title in a row after he claimed his maiden Asian tour victory in Taiwan this month and triumphed on the Japan Challenge Tour a week later.
Bhullar, the 2012 champion in Macau, bogeyed his opening hole on Sunday before he stormed ahead with birdies on two, three, four, seven and nine to turn in 31.