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Bhullar finishes second at Worldwide Selangor Masters

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September 08, 2012 18:16 IST

Gaganjeet Bhullar made a valiant charge on the final day, but eventually finished second behind Thailand's Thaworn Wiratchant who maintained his overnight lead to capture his 14th Asian tour title at the Worldwide Selangor Masters in Selangor, Malaysia on Saturday.

Bhullar, who was also the runner-up at the Panasonic Open this year, shot a final round of 66, but Wiratchant, who started the day six clear of the Indian held on with a fine 69 despite a final hole bogey.

The two-time Asian Tour winner, Bhullar made the turn in 31 with birdies on second, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth.

He dropped his only bogey of the day on 11th, but picked birdies on 12th and 17th to rise from overnight tied sixth to second. He earlier shot 68, 71 and 70 in his first three rounds.

Bhullar's earlier top-10 finishes this year have been sixth at SAIL-SBI Open, second at Panasonic Open India, tied sixth at ISPS Handa Singapore Classic and tied third at Indonesia Masters.

Of the other Indians, Himmat Rai finished 15th with a final round of 71 to finish at six-under. His rounds were 70, 70, 71 and 71.

Rashid Khan (73) ended 29th, while Vikrant Chopra disappointed over the weekend with 74-76 and ended 50th after being in top-10 at midway stage. Ajeetesh Sandhu (78) finished 66th at five-over for 72 holes.

Wiratchant had four birdies and one bogey on front nine and then two each of birdies and bogeys on the back nine in his 69. He finished at 16-under.

Bhullar was happy with his performance this week and said the runner-up finish will improve his rankings.

"I needed a very good week. We are pretty close to the CIMB Classic and I need to put my rankings higher. This week will give me a lot of boost and also improve on my rankings.

This week, my course management was good. I kept hitting three woods off the tee and kept the ball in play. Game is coming back, I'm hitting it good. I feel that the time is right to click another one. Just be patient and wait for another one," he said.

On his last round performance on Saturday, Bhullar said, "This year, I've been playing well in the last round. Today, I hit it really good. Hit 17 greens in regulations today and just missed one fairway. I made the par of the century on 18 which was a big save. Hit it really well and I was really confident.

"Health-wise, I was much better as I had a bit of fever the last few days. I could feel that I was physically fine which helped. I feel my approach shots, I wasn't able to spin it properly. Some I was spinning it too much and some I was spinning it to less. I need to control that better from 100 yards and in.

"Thaworn was too far ahead. If we played in the same group, it may have made a difference to him. But he's an experienced guy as he knows how to close the deal. Congratulations to him. If we were playing together, it may have been different," said Bhullar.

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