Gaganjeet Bhullar’s game finally clicked today, after uncharacteristically struggling this season, as he took the third-round lead at the Black Mountain Championship.
The Indian was at his imperious best shooting a six-under-par 66 for a tournament total of 19-under, and a two-shot lead over none other than the player of the year so far, American John Catlin.
Catlin fired a 65 here at Black Mountain Golf Club in Hua Hin, Thailand – where conditions were far from ideal with grey skies and rain persisting all day.
His compatriot Michael Maguire carded a 68 and is another shot back, while Chinese-Taipei’s Lee Chieh-po fired the lowest round of the day, a 64, to sit in fourth, an additional stroke behind, with David Boriboonsub from Thailand, who returned a 67.
Bhullar, the 36-year-old from Amritsar, has triumphed 11-times on the Asian Tour – the most by an Indian – but dogged by a sore hip this year he has not finished better than joint 33rd, at the International Series Morocco. After missing the last three cuts he is currently 123rd on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.
However, the rebound appears to have begun this week, and a 12th win is a real possibility.
“It was a good round of golf to be honest,” said the Indian star, who made six birdies and started the day sharing the lead with Suteepat Prateeptienchai from Thailand.
“I think the best part was that it was a bogey-free round. I probably hit about 17 greens in regulation, so that gave me a good opportunity to make lots and lots of birdies. I putted quite well today, I would say as good as yesterday, and drove the ball well, just missed two fairways today. But other than that, I think it was a solid round.”
He holds the course record here, a round of nine-under back in 2009, and has only dropped two shots all week. And despite the poor weather today, which fortunately was just rain and no lighting, he has continued to dominate the course.
“Normally it's a thunderstorm and we don't play, but yeah, it was quite challenging. Actually, in the last few holes I had to change my strategy off the tee, because I was just not comfortable hitting driver on all the holes. On number 16 I had to hit a three wood, and on the 17th I had to hit a four iron.”
Catlin is aiming to complete a hat-trick this week, after a phenomenal season that has seen him win twice: International Series Macau presented by Wynn and Saudi Open presented by PIF, back-to-back.
He also nearly claimed the International Series Morocco, but was stopped in his tracks by New Zealand’s Campbell, after the Kiwi won on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off. Catlin was also second in the Yeangder TPC, joint third in the Malaysian Open and equal fourth in the SJM Macao Open.
He is the runaway leader on both the Asian Tour Order of Merit and The International Series Rankings.
He said: “It was a grind, you know, it's hard to keep everything dry. It was on and off all day, it was rain and then it kind of stopped, and then it would come back. And then it would get heavy, I felt like I was constantly having to adjust my numbers and what shots I was playing, so yeah, to come out with 65 is definitely nice.”
The American is clearly revelling playing in Hua Hin – his home away from home, as, just under a decade ago, he chose to base himself here when playing on the Asian Tour.
He said: “Yeah, it's great being here, anytime I can play a tournament in Hua Hin it's awesome. This has been kind of a second home, and I've basically had a place here for eight years. I've played this golf course more times than I can count, so all of that is definitely helping me play well.”
He only dropped one shot today and carded eight birdies.
Maguire, a graduate from last year’s Qualifying School, has the opportunity tomorrow to improve on his best performance on the Asian Tour, which is tied fourth in last year’s International Series Vietnam.
“Tricky conditions out there with the rain,” commented Maguire, who has made just one bogey in three rounds.
“I think we only had two holes where it wasn't raining, so just trying to manage keeping everything dry, and trying to just figure out how far the ball is flying. Because yesterday it was hot in the afternoon, the ball was going miles, and today, with the rain, it kind of cooled down a little bit. So, yeah, happy with the way I played.”
Suteepat shot a 71 and is five behind Bhullar, along with Italian Stefano Mazzoli, in with a 70.
The International Series is the most prized pathway in golf. It consists of 10 elite tournaments sanctioned by the Asian Tour and offers the year-long Rankings leader promotion to the LIV Golf League
