PGA Golf: Arjun Atwal, first Indian to win PGA Tour
The PGA Tour at Sunday awarded Arjun Atwal with a victory at the Wyndham Championship, making him the first Indian and 6th Asian-born player grabbing the trophy. With a one stroke lead play, Atwal managed a triumph on the PGA tour in a history of twenty four years.
The player form Kolkata grasped the final round with a 67 on the board. Playing a consistent game, Atwal had ruled the boards of rounds 1, 2 and 3, either as a loner or on a shared seat. He claimed the final round of Wyndham Championship, while standing at 260 with a 20 under.
Atwal stood at the top position with 61, 67, 65 and 67 in R1, R2, R3 and R4 respectively. The total score amounted to 260, handing him the FedEx Points as 300 in number. Atwal finished with a minus 12 in the end. David Thomas stood as the runner-up who finished on minus 19 and a minus 6 in R4. Mallinger made it to the third place with a minus 18.
The 37-year-old has two reasons to celebrate after the PGA tour this year. Firstly he stands at the first place as an Indian who won the PGA Championship, and secondly since the 1986 Southern Open, he is the first Indian to win the qualifier round as well as the tournament. The title was previously held by Fred Wadsworth.
The overall play had been very interesting for the leader-board, at one point; the lead was shared with 7 players with 18 under. David Thomas stood with a 64 at 19 under.
In the final round, Atwal stood with a 3 stroke lead at the board. Twelve minutes before Lucas Glover had attained a bogey at 14th, Atwal at the 12th hole made a bogey at par 3. Tom and Leonard, not far away had been able to manage a birdie at the 16th the same time Glover gave similar results.
However, the lead came back to hold his hand at the 14th, when the Indian played a birdie. After Atwal’s birdie, Tom at 18th and Leonard at 17th attained a birdie, which added them at the 19 under tied group. Atwal had more chance to win having three more holes to play, when at the 18th Leonard played loose and ended up dropping down one stroke.
At the 16th Atwal played birdie and achieved the status of minus 3. The 37-year-old moved to 20 under overall from the distance of 6 feet, when his ball plopped in the hole as a birdie putt. Atwal’s happiness knew no bounds when he played the 7 foot distance. He putted the number 18 with the consecutive par, and finally dropped his putter on the green when the pressure lifted handing him the win.
The 37-year-old Indian’s winning along with a total money amount of $918,000 includes a two-year exemption and Master’s invitation, which will be held next year. Atwal explains that winning at the PGA was his long-time pursuit. He said that despite having started golf at the age of 14, the race towards the end always includes qualm and reservations. While teeing with a 3 stroke lead Atwal claims he had his doubts.
Along with several wins, Atwal has been through a tough time in the past years as well, the first incident took place 3 years ago. At Orlando Street a driver was trying to race Atwal down, but ended up dying in a crash. Although Atwal was cleared from any allegations and was proven innocent, the emotional duty he had to pay played its toll.
Atwal, however, didn’t get the exemption for the FedEx Cup play-off, which is a four-event game. The event will begin on Thursday but Atwal is not worried, since he will be flying to Thailand for his father-in-law’s birthday.
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