Bhullar finishes 22nd as Garcia wins Qatar Masters

Doha: Gaganjeet Bhullar rounded off the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters with a creditable three-under 69 and finished tied 22nd in the second leg of three-event Middle East swing.

Bhullar, who was in top-10 after the first day, ended at nine-under 279, even as Spaniard Sergio Garcia beat Finland`s Mikko Illonen in a play-off lasting three holes. Shiv Kapur shot a third successive 71 and finished tied 33rd, down nine places from his overnight 24th. Jeev Milkha Singh (68) moved up to finish tied 43rd after being 57th overnight. Bhullar had three birdies and no bogeys, while Kapur who looked set for a better finish suffered a double bogey on 15th. Jeev also had a bogey free 68 on Sunday, which should give him more hope for next week`s campaign in Dubai. Garcia, who won his last event of December 2013, has started 2014 well with a win in play-off over Mikko Illonen of Finland. Both finished at 16-under after Garcia carded a bogey-free seven-under 65 and Illonen shot six-under 66, which had seven birdies and one bogey. Garcia, lying at nine-under after three rounds had three birdies on front nine and four on back nine as he set the clubhouse target of 16-under after being tied 11th overnight. Illonen, 6th overnight, had a brave finish with three birdies in last five holes, including the 18th to get into the play-off. Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello (69) and Dane Thorbjorn Olesen (68) tied for third at 15-under, while yet another Spaniard Alejandro Canizares (65) tied for fifth with Thomas Aiken (69), George Coetzee (68) and Englishman Steve Webster (70) at 14-under. Garcia had an eagle putt from 30 feet on the third play-off and he managed a birdie, while Illonen, who hit his third shot 12 feet past the hole failed to get a birdie and former World No. 2 Garcia won the title to move into top-10 of World Golf Rankings once again.