India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar had another average day as he carded a second successive one-over 71 on the final day to finish tied 67th at Saudi International golf tournament in King Abdullah City, Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Bhullar finished with a total of three-over 283. He had two birdies and three bogeys in his card, PTI reported.
Graeme McDowell used all his experience and stayed patient to finish at 12-under, two shots clear of defending champion Dustin Johnson (67) to claim the title.
The win ended McDowell’s nearly six-year long title drought on the European Tour. His last win came at the Open de France in 2014. It was McDowell’s 11th European Tour victory and 16th overall and they have come in 12 different countries.
“I hope this win will do for me what the Abu Dhabi win did for my friend, Shane Lowry last year. It was great of him to be there to congratulate me,” said McDowell.
Gavin Green, who flew the Asian Tour flag well all week, gave it all, including an eagle-birdie finish in a card of 70. However, the four bogeys in the seven holes before that ended his hopes of a maiden triumph on the European Tour. Green finished Tied-third with a final round of 70 and nine-under total.
McDowell suffered a stumble with bogeys on ninth and 13th to fall to 10-under before he picked birdies on 14th and 15th and came to 18th with a three-shot cushion.
McDowell, who shared the lead with Green on the first day and was in the news on the second day when he was given a ‘bad time’ after taking 84 seconds (as against mandated 50) on his second shot on Par-4 sixth hole, ensured there were no hiccups on Sunday.
Talking of the time since his last win, McDowell, who now moves into Top-50 of the world, said, “I didn’t realise it had been quite that long here in Europe. I’m very excited. I’m very relieved. This is a difficult golf course this week.
“It’s unusual to win feeling as uncomfortable as I did on a lot of these holes because it was a tough golf course these last two days, especially with tough conditions. The birdies on 14 and 15 were just huge at the time, and it was nice to have a that little cushion coming down the last couple.
American Phil Mickelson and Belgian Thomas Pieters finished in a tie for third with Green. England’s Ross Fisher eagled the last to finish at seven under alongside Dubuisson, Major Champion Sergio Garcia, Mexican Abraham Ancer and Belgian Thomas Detry.