Atwal surges to victory at Wyndham
What was predicted 3 days back just happened; Arjun Atwal gave an enormous smile while holding the Wyndham Championship trophy on Sunday!
The 37-year-old became the first Indian to win a title on the US tour after he made a six-foot putt on the 18th hole to grab a 1 shot victory in the Championship. Atwal had been performing outclass throughout the 4-days session. In fact, his last three days made it pretty obvious that he was either the top 1 or the playoff runners up. However, on the final day at the Sedgefield Country Club, the leader of the previous round saw his lead of 3 shots disappearing in a torment that seemed like a “putting contest”. Despite this, Atwal didn’t give up and kept himself calm and composed till the end, he started off again with a birdie at the 14th and 16th hole which ultimately gave him a score of 20 under par. He wrapped up the round with pars at the last two holes and a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
Moving forward, the Former US Open champion Lucas Glover was also one of the dozen players who were hovering like a danger from the back. He started off with six consecutive birdies in the front nine but after that the journey in pursuit of the Ryder Cup started becoming vague for the American. He bogeyed the 10th and 14th hole; here Atwal came forward with his putters that had gone weak while moving up and down the sand bunker at the 12th hole. Tension struck Atwal when seven other players joined him at the 18 under par. However, that session of stress did not last longer and the Indian sank a 15 foot enormous birdie at the 14th hole to claim a relief from the pack of 8 players at 18 under. At the same time, Justin Leonard vaulted three consecutive birdies at the last three holes with Glover bogeying the 18th hole and David Tom finishing the final moments with a 25-foot putt and a score of 64.
Atwal took the reign back in his hands at the 15th hole and hooked the shot to greens beyond the stands; although the attempted birdie fell short but he countered it off with a swift chip into the pole. The last 18th hole also started slow with a failed birdie attempt but the second shot to the greens was a sure 6-foot birdie. At that moment, Atwal became the first Indian to win on the US tour and the first Monday qualifier to win a tournament in 24 years. With this victory, Arjun Atwal has joined the club of world’s finest golfers that belong to Asia. This club also includes Isao Aoki, Shigeki Maruyama, Ryuji Imada, K J Choi and Y E Yang.
According to media reports, Atwal’s victory will attract a lot of people in Asia towards golf whose major interests at present lie in football or cricket. The way letters and emails are being poured on the Indian, it is apparent that there are many people in India and Dubai who have an interest in the game that was initially thought to belong to the elite only. Meanwhile, Atwal's friend Tiger Woods, in an email to him on Saturday night had suggested that Arjun should prefer completing the round with a 21-under. It seems like Arjun did listen to the advice of the world number 1 who currently happens to be in thick soup himself.
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