Dongguan: India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar was unfazed after good shots were not rewarded after he signed for a four-under-par 68 in the second round of the US$7 million WGC-HSBC Champions on Friday.
The in-form Asian Tour star, who has won twice in the past two months, moved up to tied 27th place at Mission Hills Golf Club’s Olazabal course, which he did not enjoy a practice round after arriving in China late for the lucrative tournament following a visa snag.
Countryman Jeev Milkha Singh, a two-time Asian Tour number one, settled for a 71 to lie in equal 38th place in Asia’s richest event and lone World Golf Championships in the region.
The 24-year-old Bhullar snared five birdies against a lone dropped shot but was confident the putts would start to drop after getting more familiar with the slick greens on the Olazabal course.
“It seems like the game is coming back. Today, I hit the ball so good. It was quite surprising to see myself missing so many putts. Two more days, hopefully I’ll start reading the greens a bit better. I’m looking forward to shooting some low digits,” said Bhullar, who won the Venetian Macau Open and Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taipei recently.
The supremely talented Indian, who was tied 10th in the co-sanctioned Asian Tour and PGA Tour event in Malaysia last week, went straight to the practice putting green to work on his lines on the “paspalum” greens.
“This kind of grass, we hardly play on them throughout the season. I guess the more you play on them this week, the better you become. That’s the goal setting for me,” said Bhullar.
“After playing 36 holes on these greens, I have a better idea for tomorrow’s round. I’m going back to work on my 10 to 12 footers. That’s the goal tomorrow. If I put those in, I’ll be right in it. The guys are going low, this is a WGC and we’ve got the world’s best players here. Guys are going low. You never know, just a few more good rounds and you’ll be up there.”
Countryman Singh shot four birdies but dropped a double bogey on 12 and another bogey on 15. “I think it was a bad error on 12. I took a wrong club for my second shot. I came up short and tried to get greedy with my chip. I chipped and it came back and then chipped it past and two putted for a six,” said Singh, winner of the Scottish Open in July.
“I putted better today. The scores are there to be taken. There are five par fives which are all reachable. You’ve got to shoot four or five under every day. Shooting one under or even par puts you back behind the field. I’m still making sure that I’m getting better with my finger and I feel I need to sharpen up my short game. I’m working towards that and hopefully it’ll come around.”
By Indian Sports News Network