MUMBAI, India – Jan. 8, 2005- Gaganjeet Bhullar clinched the Royal Challenge Western India Amateur title by a convincing six strokes’ margin with a final day performance of three-over 73 at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Course.

In second position was the duo of AS Lehal and Chirag Kumar with an identical three-over 283 as their four-day tally. One stroke behind was Manav Das who finished third courtesy a superb final round of four-under 66.

Bhullar, who climbs to the top of the Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour’s Order of Merit after this win, started his round today with a birdie. However, his front nine journey ended on a rather disappointing note when he recorded a double bogey on the ninth hole. In this particular hole, after his second shot landed just short of the green, the Kapurthala lad failed to sink a simple four-feet bogey putt and consequently added two strokes to his scorecard.

The return journey began with a string of pars but only till the 15th hole where he scored his first bogey of the day. With the same result on the next two holes as well, Bhullar looked to record his worse round of this event. However the final hole saw some good club work by the winner as he made his second birdie of the day.

This is Bhullar’s second win on the Royal Challenge Indian Golf Tour and he was ecstatic with his performance. “I am delighted with the way I played in this tournament. The support that the amateur circuit has received from Royal Challenge has acted as a great motivator for all of us”.

Chirag Kumar, who won the RCGC Cup in Kolkata last month, crept up the leaderboard to finish joint second with a final day performance of one-under 69. His round today consisted of three birdies, which came on the third, fourth and 18th holes. He recorded two bogeys, one of which came on the 11th hole while the other came on the 17th. Sharing second place honors with him was AS Lehal who made three birdies and an equal number of bogeys in his round. His scorecard was marred by a double bogey, which he recorded on the 14th hole.

Final scores: 277 Gaganjeet Bhullar (66,65,73,73); 283 Chirag Kumar (78,66,70,69), AS Lehal (69,72,70,72); 284 Manav Das (76,69,73,66); 285 HS Kang (67,72,73,73), Amardip Sinh Malik (71,74,69,71); 286 Vikrant Chopra (70,71,71,72); 289 Simarjeet Singh (75,71, 73, 70); 292 Ranjit Singh (70,72,76,74), Jaskirat Dullet (75,70,74,73)