ROUND 1
ROUND 2
ROUND 3
SCORESHEET

Aamby Valley, Maharashtra, May 9, 2009: Gaganjeet Bhullar recorded his third professional win when he fired a bogey-free four under 68 on the final day of the PGTI Players Championship presented by Aamby Valley Golf Club. This also happened to be the 21-year-old’s third straight win on the Aircel PGTI as he had earlier taken home the winner’s purse in his last two appearances on the tour (Panchkula and Jaipur). Bhullar totaled 21 under 267 for the tournament to register a comprehensive 10-stroke victory. Harmeet Kahlon secured second place as he finished with an overall score of 11 under 277.

Gaganjeet Bhullar (66, 67, 66, 68) capitalized on his overnight nine-stroke lead with a solid final round on Saturday. He maintained his huge lead over nearest rival Harmeet Kahlon through the day with some top-class hitting and putting. The Kapurthala-based professional bagged his first birdie on the fifth, where he hit his lob wedge approach to within five feet of the pin. He then sank a 25-footer to birdie the eighth.

Bhullar earned his third birdie of the day with an excellent chip-putt from the right edge of the 12th green (par five). On the very next par five, the 14th, Gaganjeet hit the green in two and made a relatively easy two-putt to pick up another birdie.

“It’s great to have another win under my belt. I played a solid round today and did not think about playing safe at any stage despite being way ahead on the leaderboard. I was aggressive from the very start because I wanted to improve upon my career-best score of 21 under. In fact, my aim was to finish with a score of 24 under. However, I did manage to equal my career-best score today,” said an ecstatic Gaganjeet, who has now consolidated his position at the top of the Aircel PGTI Order of Merit.

He added, “I would say my best birdie today came on the eighth where I sank a difficult 25-feet putt. I’m glad that I’ve been able to win three titles in such a short span of time. I had had eight or nine runner-up finishes before I won my first professional title in March this year and therefore, these wins were due for more than a year.”

Harmeet Kahlon (73, 64, 71, 69) hung in there on the final day with a three under 69 to secure second place. Kahlon birdied the second, third, 11th, 16th and dropped a lone bogey on the 10th.

“I hit it well today even though I did not putt as well as I had done in the previous rounds. Nevertheless, I’m quite pleased with my second-place finish. It’s my best finish in a year or so,” said Kahlon.

Vikrant Chopra and Arjun Singh shared third place at seven under 281 while Amardip Sinh Malik and Rahil Gangjee were a further three strokes behind in tied fifth place.

Mukesh Kumar’s tournament total of two under 286 placed him tied eighth.

Pune-based professionals Rajiv Datar and Pravin Pathare finished tied 42nd at 15 over 303.

SCORESHEET