Golf Update: Wyndham Championship- Arjun Atwal takes the lead with 2
Arjun Atwal marched to the top of the leader board of the first day of the Wyndham Championship that took place in Sedgefield Country Club course today.
The 37-year-old Indian scored 61 in the first round of the tournament and ended the day with a lead of 2 strokes. He emulated Carl Pettersson’s two year back score at the par 70 course; moreover, he was already 9 under before going into the playoff.
However, rest of the leader board showed mixed results with Brandt Snedeker shooting a 63, John Rollins, Kevin Streelman, Lucas Glover, Boo Weekley, David Toms and Jeev Milkha Singh settling at 64, and six other players with 65s .The strange part was that it rained whole day but the leader board remained crowded and the greens remained soft.
Quite likely, this was a very motivating initiation for Arjun Atwal, who missed the cut in his tour card in July and had to make his way into this tournament in a Monday qualifier across town at Forest Oaks Country Club.
Regarding this venue, Arjun has played on the same course twice before; at one occasion he finished 6th which was in 2004, and wrapped up a score of 67.However, he had to share the first spot with 3 other players. As a token of remembrance never before any Monday qualifier won any tournament after Fred Wadsworth, who claimed the trophy at the 1986 Southern Open.
Going back into the past, Arjun Atwal lost the card to his tour when he injured his shoulder during the weight lifting session in the Gym. Although he got medical extensions few days later but by then he had lost couple of events and eventually lost the card to make a cut on the tour. Arjun Atwal is not capable for the FedEx Cup playoffs, which are going to start in the upcoming week in New Jersey, not even if he delivers an outstanding performance and wins. The least that can happen is that he can get his card back to contest in 2011, after he gets a victory either here at the Wyndham Championship or later in the fall series tournament. According to the analyst, Arjun Atwal will be able to jump the money lists of the PGA and the nationwide tours if he wins this tournament and that can take him straight to the majors.
According to Arjun Atwal, the only way to get to the leader board is to make a lot of birdies in the Monday qualifier or else it is going to be other way round and this is what he did whole day long.
Moving back to Arjun Atwal’s performance, he took a start with a bogey-free round on the back nine, and finished with 4 under in the halfway. Later he birdied three of the last four holes and later wrapped the last moments with a 7-foot putt on the 9th hole. One of the biggest achievements of the day included his birdie at the most difficult hole of the course which was the 18th.
Regarding the toughest hole, it carried the lowest number of birdies on a course mounting to 10 and the highest number of bogeys mounting to 54.It can be well understood by looking at the numbers that this freshly lengthened, 507-yard par 4 hole drowned many players off the top of the leader board.
Moving to other players, Jay Williamson scored 65 with four birdies in the first five holes; however, he got busted after reaching the 18th green and earned a double bogey at the hole. Another player John Mallinger, who started with three straight birdies through the back nine, birdied the 17th hole but ended with a 3 putt bogey at an aggregate of 65.
This was the first day of the Wyndham Championship that was taking place at the Sedgefield Country Club course today and no doubt some remarkable scores were seen on the leader board despite heavy rains that prevailed throughput the day.
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