Shanghai: Gaganjeet Bhullar finished final day with a disappointing two-over 74 as he totalled a poor one-over 289 to finish a lowly tied 63rd at the end of the WGC-HSBC Champions on Sunday.
It was indeed disappointing for Bhullar, who at one stage was as high as tied fourth towards the end of the second round. The collapse at the end of the second round is something he was unable to recover from.
Dustin Johnson kept at bay the challenges of defending champion Ian Poulter and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell by staging a late comeback with a final round six-under-par 66 to win his first WGC title.
Trailing by one shot with six holes to play, the Ryder Cup star proved his title credentials by firing three birdies and an eagle to seal a three-shot victory with his winning total of 24-under-par 264 at the Sheshan International Golf Club.
Poulter had to settle for second place after he closed with a 66 while McDowell also signed for a 66 to finish in third place. China's Liang Wen-chong emerged as the highest-ranked Asian after he also posted a 66 to take a share of 15th place with Major winner Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa at the year's final World Golf Championship.
"I stuck to my game plan, and obviously I played really well on the last few holes of the front nine and had a great back nine. But the guys, they made it really interesting, and you know, I just played really good coming down the stretch,? said Johnson."
"This is probably my biggest win, and with the field and the tournament, World Golf Championships, hopefully this is a sign of better things to come," added the American.
Bhullar, who is ranked third on the Asian Tour Order of Merit, knows he has the game to compete on the global stage by virtue of his entry into this week's US 8.5 million showpiece featuring 40 of the world's top 50 players.
"I know I've what it takes to play against these players.
It's just a matter of believing in myself and having a really good week," said Bhullar.
"You've got to be playing really well to feature in this week?s WGC-HSBC Champions and I've shown that by being here."
Bhullar started off the week encouragingly with a 69 and followed that up with a 71 at the Sheshan International Golf Club.
However, he could not find his way back into the mix after he struggled with a 75 in the third round before closing with a four-day total of one-over-par 289.
"I started off really well this week. I was playing really well till the middle of the second round but there were lots of positive energies that I can take from this week," said Bhullar.
"I hit the ball really well but just had two really bad swings the last four days and I think that cost me dearly. But other than that, I know I can still play and I'm looking for that winning form again," added Bhullar.
Bhullar heads home to India where he is expected to put up a strong challenge at the 50th edition of the Indian Open. Up ahead Johnson started the final round with a three-shot lead but saw that wiped out after two holes.
A three-putt bogey at the first hole from Johnson, combined with two opening birdies from Poulter, saw the pair tied on 17-under. It became a tight affair at the top of the leaderboard as McDowell set off with a scorching pace by firing three birdies in his opening three holes.
Birdies on the eighth and ninth holes got Johnson back into a share of the lead and although Poulter edged in front with a birdie on the 12th hole, Johnson matched his efforts with birdies on the 13th and 14th holes to set up a titanic finish.
Johnson's turning point came at the par-four 16th when he chipped in for eagle before going on to hit a glorious tee-shot at the par three 17th and holed an eight-footer for birdie.
After dropping his only shot at the 15th, Poulter bravely holed a 12-foot birdie on the 16th to reduce Johnson's advantage to two. He was however left to watch Johnson restore his three-shot advantage after another birdie on the 17th.
"I guess it was a good defence. Obviously, I'm a little disappointed not to put my hands back on the trophy, but 15 birdies and an eagle at the weekend is some pretty good golf," said Poulter.
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