Gaganjeet Bhullar shoots 64 to finish fifth in Thailand

India's Gaganjeet Bhullar was on fire as he cracked a bogey-free eight-under to zoom into the top five in the International Series Thailand on Sunday.

Bhullar, a nine-time winner on the Asian Tour, was thrilled with the finish as he played in southeast Asia after a gap of 24 months. Bhullar, one of the 15 Indians in the field, last had a top five in March 2021 in Qatar on the European Tour.

"Coming back to the Asian Tour for the first time since Malaysia in 2020, it was great to finish in such a manner (with 64) and get into top five," said Bhullar. American Sihwan Kim (65) finally secured his first victory as a professional after over a decade-long wait. The in-form 33-year-old, who has been in the final pairing on Sunday at three of the last six Asian Tour events, fired an inspired nine-under-par 63 to beat Thailand's great hope of the future, Phachara Khongwatmai, by two strokes.

Kim totalled 26-under, while Phachara, the overnight leader, shot 68 and was second at 24-under. Karandeep Kochhar (72) had a roller coaster of a day with four birdies, an eagle and six bogeys and ended tied 16 at 17-under, after holding a share of the lead at one point in the third round. Of the other Indians Ajeetesh Sandhu (68) and Honey Baisoya (70) finished tied 32nd at 15-under, while Aman Raj (70) was tied 41st at 13-under. Viraj Madappa (72) was tied 59th at 9-under, while S Chikkarangappa (69) was tied 63rd at 6-under in the low-scoring tournament. Bhullar said, "It is absolutely amazing.

I'm back on the southeast Asian soil after the gap of 24 months. In the beginning of this year it was quite a struggle for me. I had COVID and then it took me a while to recover from it." He added, "But, otherwise, you know, everything is fine game is right now. Coming back to Thailand, it really inspires me. I have won here in the past and I had shot a course record of nine-under par, so I was trying to match that score.

I've been enjoying myself." When asked if he could visualise a score and a finish like this a month ago he said, "Actually yes because this course really suits by my distance. I really like the layout. I was expecting myself to play well. And that's what I did." South African Ian Snyman and Itthipat Buranatanyarat from Thailand finished two shots in tied third after rounds of 64 and 67 respectively.