Gaganjeet Bhullar
Gaganjeet Bhullar, who has won nine times on the Asian Tour, the most of any Indian, is one of the favourites in the field this week.
Bhullar said he is all set for the tournament and that he was impressed with the redesign of the course, though this was only the second time he had played the new course in over two years. “Coming out and playing at DGC, that too an Asian Tour event, it’s a different feel, great atmosphere, it’s right in the middle of the city, it does attract a lot of members, spectators. DGC has a very special meaning in the Indian golfer’s heart,” he said.
When talking about his season and how he plans to divide his time between the European and Asian Tours, Bhullar said, “The season has just started now, I will definitely plan in a way, where I will be able to play a few tournaments in a row on the DP World Tour and then comeback and play the remaining few on the Asian Tour. I know scheduling will be a little tough but that’s what I’ve been doing for the last so many years, at the end of the day it won’t be that difficult for me.”
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Earlier in the month, Bhullar shot a final round 64 to finish tied-5th at the Asian Tour’s inaugural International Series in Thailand. “I just played well actually, gave myself a lot of opportunities, putted really well, hit the ball pretty well … I just played well from tee to green which helped me finish within the top-5 in Thailand,” he said.
Bhullar was happy to discuss the newly launched and controversial LIV Golf Series headed by Greg Norman. The series will consist of eight-event series offering US$ 255mn in prize money. “I think it’s really good, Bhullar said. It’s really good for the Asian golf community & pro golfers. This is what we had been waiting for a long long time and it’s never too late and it will surely bring greater media coverage with all the money involved. It really helps golf pick up in most of the Asian developing countries. I mean, yeah, I think all the Asian players, particularly from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, will benefit at the end of the day.”
Like the rest of us, Bhullar watched Anirban’s second finish at THE PLAYERS. “You know at the end of the day we all dream ourselves of playing well on that level and I think he has definitely made all of us proud, all the pro golfers on the PGTI, that’s where he started playing golf, all the pro golfers on the Asian Tour, at the end of the day we are very proud of him and I think it was a great moment for Indian golf, because after a long long time somebody from our side has gone there and made us proud.”
Talking about Indians at this week’s DGC Open, Bhullar said, “Playing at Delhi Golf Club is always an advantage to Indian players, because our style of playing and course management suits the course, but in particular its very difficult to pick and choose any favourites for the tournament, but overall I think there are bunch of Indian guys who can play and everytime we have seen DGC has given opportunities to a new Indian face and this time could be anybody else.”
Having played a practice round, Bhullar said he is “very impressed” with the course conditions. “They had shut the course for three weeks to prepare for the week, fairways are absolutely prime and greens are really good and we all are very excited to play DGC.”
Given the tight fairways at DGC that call for accuracy off the tee, Bhullar said he will not carry a driver in his bag this week. Instead, he will go with a 3-wood, a rescue and a 3-iron.
“At DGC it’s always important to get the ball in the fairway, the moment you are in the fairway, you can go for the flag. But with this new redesigned outlook, it’s not only about hitting the fairway, it’s also about how close you are to the flag as well, because if you miss green on the wrong side, you’ll be surely coming up for pretty long putts. So I think one has to be really sharp and really understand the course management well.”
Credits:-
Photo – Asian Tour