Muscat, Mar 4: India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar slipped after spending some time in the top 3, a disastrous start in Monday’s final round leading to a tied 27th finish at the Oman Open.
Hit by bogey-bogey start followed by a double on fourth, he fell from four-under where he was after 54 holes to even par in a matter of four holes.
Bhullar went on to finish the day at six-over 78 as he birdied the 12th, but again double bogeyed 15th and bogeyed the 16th.
Shubhankar Sharma, the other Indian to make the cut, also shot 78 with three birdies, seven bogeys and a double bogey. He finished tied 67th.
Bhullar is now headed to the Qatar Masters, while Sharma takes a break.
Meanwhile, Kurt Kitayama produced a remarkable final day comeback at the Al Mouj Golf to win his second European Tour title of the season.
The American, who won his first European Tour title at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Anahita earlier this season, played a marathon 33 holes on the final day after sandstorms and high winds delayed play in Muscat.
When poor light suspended play on Saturday evening, Kitayama was seven strokes off the pace after a quadruple bogey, and consecutive bogeys on the first three holes of his third round.
Returning on Sunday morning, Kitayama played the next 15 holes seven under par to sign for a round of 71 and a five under par total after the third round.
Starting his final round, he quickly moved up the leaderboard with birdies on the second and third holes as he chased five other players who shared or outright held first place at various points during the afternoon.
Jorge Campillo set the clubhouse target of six under par after finishing an hour and a half before the final group.
Bogeys on the seventh and 11th holes cancelled out Kitayama’s early gains but two consecutive birdies on the 16th and 17thholes saw him take first place outright as Maximilian Kieffer dropped a shot on the 17th hole.
Kitayama parred the final hole for a seven under par total, finishing one stroke ahead of Campillo, Kieffer, Clemént Sordet and Fabrizio Zanotti.
Joachim B. Hansen, Peter Hanson and Thomas Pieters shared sixth place on five under par. PTI
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