‘My game has reached next level’

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Gaganjeet Bhullar

With his first wire-to-wire victory at the just-concluded Venetian Macau Open — his second on the Asian Tour in a month — Gaganjeet Bhullar is on Cloud Nine.

Bhullar, who won the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taipei last month, signed off with a card of three-under 68 for a four-day total of 16-under 268, to finish two-stroke ahead of American Jonathan Moore (65) in Macau.
With his current form just right, the 24-year-old Kapurthala lad feels that he is ready for the big stage.
Excerpts:
How does the Macau Open win feel? Two wins in one month, it means a lot. Everyone works hard but getting the expected result is not easy. My first wire-to-wire Asian Tour title. It was difficult in the end.

It didn’t come easy in the end?
I got a bogey in the first hole of the event. Nobody thought I was going to win the tournament by a margin of two. I was just lucky. In the first few days, my putter really helped me and my ball striking. All in all, it was a spectacular week.

Some big events coming up, you’re up for that?
Today, I would say yes I am up for the big events, the way I’m striking the ball. I would say my game has gone to the next level. I played with K.J. Choi and Ben Curtis last week and they gave me some good tips. K.J. told me that I have the game for the PGA Tour and it’s just a matter of time. I just need to have my mental believe that one day I’ll be there. I’ll just wait for that day.
What are the upcoming tournaments for you? Next few weeks will be important. I’m in the CIMB and HSBC and I’m looking forward to the big events. We also have the Barclays Singapore Open, UBS Hong Kong Open and this week’s Indian Open. The events have a lot of bonus and also opportunities to get to the next level as well.
Obviously, to win these tournaments will be important. With the form that I am in right now, I’m feeling really good and let’s see what happens.

In the coming years, where do you see yourself? I have played junior golf with Rory McIlroy and look at Rory, he’s world number one. If you look at that, I’m really slow. There’s a lot of golf left. The next few years, I will take my game to the next level.
I have thought about the European Tour and PGA Tour. Last year, I tried the PGA Tour Qualifying School. But this year, I’m not exempted.
It didn’t make sense for me to skip the big tournaments in Asia as I would lose my world ranking points. So it’s better I play well in these tournaments and go straight to the PGA Tour.

Your opinion about the current crop of young golfers? I guess the next responsibility of Indian golf is on our shoulders, including Himmat Rai and Anirban Lahiri.
We are the future of Indian golf. We have to prove to the people that the next generation is ready to take over. Jeev is our idol and one day we’ll try to catch up.