Taehoon Ok and Bhullar. Pics: Paul Lakatos/ Asian Tour
August 20: Gaganjeet Bhullar at 10-under through 15 holes in the third round looked set for a shot at a second title within a month at the US$1.5 million International Series Korea. Then dropped a double bogey on 16th and a bogey followed on 17th and despite a closing birdie he was down to 7-under and had lost some ground with the leaders on Jeju Island.
Yet in terms of positions on the leader board he was T-10 as against T-11 when he started the day but with five shots between him and the leader he will need some great play and some help from the players ahead of him. At 7-under for the tournament, Bhullar is the best Indian at T-10.
Korean Taehoon Ok (69) will make a bid for his maiden pro title as he moved to 12-under and sole lead. Amateur Wooyoung Cho (61), Yoseop Seo (67) and Bio Kim (70) are tied for second at 11-under.
Veer Ahlawat had a very rough day with two double bogeys and three other bogeys against four birdies for a card of 3-over 74 and dropped hugely to T-42nd. Ahlawat was T-5 when he started the day.
SSP Chawrasia (73) slipped to T-49 from T-16, Rashid Khan (72) dropped to T-61 from T-48 and Shiv Kapur (74) was T-71.
Bhullar, who has shown good form in recent weeks birdied second and fourth to make a turn in 2-under and when he birdied 10th and 11th, he moved to 4-under. Despite missing a couple of birdie chances, he was very much in the mix as he approached the final few holes. The double bogey and bogey on 16-17 spoiled his card and finished at 69.
While Koreans occupied the top four spots at the Lotte Skyhill Country Club on Jeju Island, Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai (63) and Pavit Tangkamolprasert (67) ensured they were within striking distance at 10-under in Tied-fifth place.
Ok and Kim had started the third day sharing the lead, but it was the former who had the edge for much of the day reaching 14 with two to play and the prospect of a healthy lead. However, he made bogey on 17 and 18 to give hope to the chasing pack.
Rising star Cho, aged 20, lit up the tournament with the best round of the week made up of four birdies on the front and six on the back, including five birdies in the last six holes. It’s also the lowest 18-hole score of the season on the Asian Tour, but as preferred lies are being played it could not count officially.
Cho won the Korean Amateur Championship in 2020, was third in last year’s Asian Pacific Amateur Championship and was ranked the country’s top amateur ahead of the Asian Games, before it was postponed this year in China because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
