July 15, 2018: Justin Harding of South Africa put an exclamation point on the closely contested final day, as he carded a one-under-par 71 to win his maiden Asian Tour title at the US$500,000 Bank BRI Indonesia Open on Sunday.
The 32-year-old, who missed only three greens-in-regulation before the final round, uncharacteristically dropped two shots on holes seven and eight. However, he bounced back when it mattered with two birdies before emerging victorious with an 18-under-par 270 total at the Pondok Indah Golf Course.
Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent transferred the pressure to Harding early in the round after firing three consecutive birdies on the second, third and fourth hole. But he lost the advantage after dropping three shots at the sixth, ninth and 10th. He eventually ended the week in second place, his fifth top-10 finish this year.
Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat and United States’ Sihwan Kim shared third place after carding 68 and 69 respectively. Gaganjeet Bhullar of India is one shot behind the duo, in lone fifth place.
Bhullar carded five birdies and a lone bogey to finish with four-under-68 in the final round. He is lying solo fifth on the leaderboard, to lead the Indian charge in top five.
“It was a solid round of golf. I made a few good birdies. Most of them were tricky putts.a
I was looking at the leaderboard and with that, I kept motivating to get up there. I kept on going. But I still assessed the situation hole-by-hole. For the final few holes, I was particularly aggressive because I was hitting the ball well.
My swing is on the way to being fixed. I see plenty of progressions and the goal is to be really consistent and get to my peak really soon. I’m working really hard to get my ninth Asian Tour title” said Bhullar.
Johannes Veerman (66), who led the tournament after the opening round, ended his tournament with a flourish. He grabbed a share of sixth place, along with India’s Udayan Mane and Thailand’s Natipong Srithong.
Udayan scored five birdies and three bogies to finish with two-under-70 and lying at T6.
“I’m happy with a top-10 finish. There is so much I can take back home from the way I played this week. I’m close to the winner. I have a blueprint of my scoring capabilities on this Tour”, said Udayan.
Other Indian, Khalin Joshi was lying top ten until penultimate round has lost four spots on the leaderboard to finish at tied thirteenth place. He carded three birdies and two bogeys to close with one-under-71 in the final round.
Harding will be taking up Asian Tour membership after his win at the Bank BRI Indonesia Open. The current Sunshine Tour Order of Merit leader was playing in the tournament on an invite.
Asian Tour Release
