Bhullar finishes in fifth place, Chikka sixth in Jakarta

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and S Chikkarangappa registered creditable top-10 finishes at the BNI Indonesian Masters on Sunday.

While Bhullar ended the week the way he began it with a bogey-free round of 67 and finished at 12-under for fifth place, Chikka was one place behind him tied-sixth.

Coming on the heels of a win in Korea the previous week, it signaled a welcome return to form of the 28-year-old Kapurthala golfer, Bhullar, who has six Asian Tour titles to his name. Returning from a wrist injury, he had just one birdie on front nine but four on back nine for his 67. He had a 66 on day one, but in between he shot 73 and 70.

Chikka also had an error-free round of 67 and it helped him finish at 11-under and in Tied-sixth place. Like Bhullar, he also had just one birdie on front nine and four on back stretch at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.

Anirban Lahiri (70) was six-under for the week and Tied-31st, but he would be far from happy with that. Jyoti Randhawa (67), finally finding some form, and Arjun Atwal (74) were Tied-46th, while Rahil Gangjee (70), Chiragh Kumar (70) and Himmat Rai (75) were Tied-43rd.

Jeev Milkha Singh (71), in the top-10 after first day ended Tied-56th and Shiv Kapur (75), clearly not fully recovered yet was Tied-63rd and Abhinav Lohan (75) was Tied 66th.

Poom Saksansin of Thailand cruised to a comfortable five-shot victory when he closed with a five-under-par 67 to win his first Asian Tour title. The 23-year-old held a two-shot lead at the start of the day and stayed ahead of the chasing pack by shooting six birdies against one bogey to finish on 18-under-par 270. Poom had only two bogeys in the entire week.