Gaganjeet Bhullar upbeat about his short game
Domaine de Bel Ombre (Mauritius), May 6 (IANS)
Having fully recovered from the left wrist injury that troubled him throughout last year, Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar is hopeful of pulling his career back on track when the $1.1 million Mauritius Open gets underway here on Thursday.
After tearing a ligament in his left wrist in September 2014, the five-time winner on the Asian Tour struggled in short game that involves chipping and putting.
Ahead of this week's tri-sanctioned event, the 27-year-old said: "I'm looking forward to nice golfing holiday. I'm hitting the ball good in the past three months. I'm trying to get it right, it is just that I need to sort out a few things in my mind. Struggled a bit with my short game last month but it's starting to get strong again."
"One of the reasons (of poor short game) was the injury last year. I have fully recovered and I am fully prepared for this year. The wrist caused some problem with the short game, but I'm working hard and get back to what I used to be with the short game," he said in a release.
The Kapurthala golfer missed the cut in the four Asian Tour tournaments in the 2015 season and also failed to qualify for the final two rounds in the Shenzhen International of the European Tour.
"Playing more will help and I think I have to start believing in myself again. I played bad in the start of the year, maybe just doubting myself with the shorter clubs," the world No.492 said.
"Just need to get my confidence back and that will only happen when I play in more tournaments and working harder."
In this week's inaugural Mauritius Open to be played at the Heritage Golf Club, the first tri-sanctioned event by the Asian, European and Sunshine Tours, Bhullar is confident of putting up a good show.
"A top five or top-10 would be good, winning would be good this week. The way I'm playing right now, I won't be surprised if I'll be able to do that on Sunday," he said.
"It's a great week. I came to the golf course yesterday, played a few holes and it's a beautiful layout. The course is very picturesque, lots of beautiful holes."
Talking about his compatriot Anirban Lahiri's rise and recent exploits in the World Golf Championship Match Play event, Bhullar said: "I'm very excited to see what Anirban (Lahiri) is doing internationally. Good to see the Indian flag waving at the WGCs and he deserves to be in that spot.
"He's been playing well the last one and a half year and has been very consistent. I think that's the place in the world's top-50 and he deserves that.
"We both in a way inspire each other. It's his time now to enjoy his limelight and I hope he stays there for the rest of his life and I hope he gets his PGA Tour card.
"He's a great inspiration for me and I'm just going to keep working hard and do what people like Jeev (Milkha Singh) and Arjun (Atwal) have done in America.