Bhullar falters as Ormsby turns season around with play-off win

Jakarta, Oct 5 (PTI) Gaganjeet Bhullar's hopes of a sixth win in Indonesia were dashed on the final day as Australian Wade Ormsby defeated Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off to claim the Jakarta International Championship here Sunday.

The 45-year-old Ormsby had gone into the final round tied on -11 with Vincent, the International Series Morocco victor, and 2023 BNI Indonesian Masters champion Bhullar.

Although Bhullar and Vincent both picked up a birdie on the first, the Indian dropped three shots on the front nine to fall away. Two early birdies after the turn gave the Indian hope, but two costly doubles on 15 and 18 dashed any hope he had.

That left Vincent and Ormsby in a play-off, and the man from Down Under triumphed after making a routine par on the par-four 18th, where Vincent found water with his second shot.

Both had finished on -12 with one-under rounds as the nerves kicked in, one ahead of a packed bunch including Scott's younger brother Kieran Vincent, Doyeob Mun of Korea and the Thai trio of Pavit Tangkamolprasert, Poom Saksansin and Sadom Kaewkanjana.

While Bhullar was the highest placed Indian on seven-under overall, Viraj Madappa carded a 66 to finish on three under and S Chikkarangappa finished a shot further back on two over after a 74.

It is Ormsby's fifth victory on the Asian Tour and second on The International Series. His last win came at the International Series Thailand in 2023.

"It was a bit of a grind," said Ormsby, who made nine straight pars on the back nine.

"Probably didn't have my best stuff out there, but I was just hanging in there. Feel bad for Scotty, you know, he kind of let a couple slip at the end there. But I hit a couple of great shots in that play-off hole, so that makes me feel better about the whole thing," he added.

The next stop for the event will be the International Series Philippines to be played from October 23 to 26 in Manila. PTI AH AH UNG