Arjun Atwal

Arjun Singh Atwal (born 20 March 1973) is an Indian professional golfer who has played on the Asian Tour and the European Tour and is the first player born in India to become a member of, and later win a tournament on the U.S.-based PGA Tour.

Arjun Atwal
Personal information
Full nameArjun Singh Atwal
Born (1973-03-20) 20 March 1973
Asansol, India
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st)
Nationality India
ResidenceKolkata, India;
Windermere, Florida, U.S.
SpouseSona (m.2000)
ChildrenShiva, Krishen
Career
Turned professional1995
Current tour(s)Asian Tour
PGA Tour
(past champion status)
Former tour(s)European Tour
Web.com Tour
Professional wins12
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour3
Asian Tour8
Korn Ferry Tour1
Other2
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentCUT: 2011
PGA ChampionshipCUT: 2005, 2011
U.S. OpenCUT: 2010
The Open ChampionshipCUT: 2004
Achievements and awards
Asian Tour
Order of Merit		2003

Early life

Born in a Sikh family to Harminder Singh Atwal (a well known industrialist) of Asansol and Kolkata, West Bengal, India, Atwal took up golf at the age of fourteen, playing at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club and Tollygunge Club. He also spent two years at school in the United States, attending W. Tresper Clarke High School, in Westbury, New York.

Career

After turning professional in 1995 he became one of the leading players on the Asian Tour, topping the order of merit in 2003 and becoming the first man to win a million U.S. dollars on the tour by winning the Hero Honda Masters on home soil in the same year. Atwal was the second Indian golfer to earn membership of the European Tour after Jeev Milkha Singh and the first to win on a European Tour event when he notched up a five stroke victory in the 2002 Caltex Singapore Masters, which was co-sanctioned by the Asian and European Tours. A second European Tour win followed at the Carlsberg Malaysian Open in 2003. Late in the same year Atwal finished seventh at the PGA Tour's qualifying school in the U.S., earning a PGA Tour card for 2004, making him the first native East Indian golfer to do so. (The most famous golfer of Indian origin, longtime PGA Tour mainstay and multiple major winner Vijay Singh, is a native of Fiji.) In his 2004 rookie season on the PGA Tour, he finished 142nd on the money list.

In 2005, Atwal came close to winning on the PGA Tour numerous times, most notably at the BellSouth Classic in April. After posting a 64 (the low round for any golfer in the tournament) in the final round of the rain-shortened event, he wound up in a five-man sudden death playoff along with Rich Beem, José María Olazábal, Brandt Jobe and Phil Mickelson. On the first hole of the playoff, the par-5 18th, Atwal's second shot went into the water, yet he almost holed his fourth shot. If he had done so, he would have made birdie and won (Mickelson, Beem and Olazabal made pars, while Jobe bogeyed.) After two-putting the green, Atwal made bogey, and he and Jobe were eliminated. Mickelson went on to win the tournament. Atwal finished 82nd on the money list in 2005 to secure his spot on Tour for 2006.

Atwal was involved in a crash possibly associated with street racing on SR 535, in Windermere, Florida, on 10 March 2007, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.[1] Atwal was not injured, and after a year of investigation, the case was closed with no charges filed.[2] A second driver, John Noah Park, 48, was killed in the incident.

After the 2010 RBC Canadian Open, Atwal lost his PGA Tour card after his medical exemption, received due to a shoulder injury, ran out and he had failed to earn enough money.[3] He later regained his playing privileges on the PGA Tour through 2012 and obtained an invitation into the 2011 Masters Tournament by Monday qualifying for and later recording his maiden victory on the PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship, the final tournament of the regular season. He became the first Indian-born player to ever win on the PGA Tour, and was the first Monday qualifier to win a PGA Tour event since Fred Wadsworth won the 1986 Southern Open.[4] Because he had lost his tour card, he received no FedEx Cup points for his victory and had not earned enough points previously to make the playoffs. He has been a neighbour and practice partner of Tiger Woods for five years at home in Florida.[5]

After failing to qualify for the FedEx Cup in 2010, Atwal entered the 2011 playoff series 123rd. Atwal had only two top-10 finishes in the two years after his win and lost his Tour card after the 2012 season. In 2014, Atwal had his first win in four years at the Dubai Open on the Asian Tour. The win earned Atwal a two-year exemption on the Asian Tour.

Professional wins (12)

PGA Tour wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 22 Aug 2010 Wyndham Championship −20 (61-67-65-67=260) 1 stroke David Toms

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2005 BellSouth Classic Rich Beem, Brandt Jobe,
Phil Mickelson, José María Olazábal		 Mickelson won with birdie on fourth extra hole
Olazábal eliminated with par on third hole
Atwal and Jobe eliminated with par on first hole

European Tour wins (3)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 24 Feb 2002 Caltex Singapore Masters1 −14 (70-69-67-68=274) 5 strokes Richard Green
2 23 Feb 2003 Carlsberg Malaysian Open1 −24 (62-65-67-66=260) 4 strokes Retief Goosen, Brad Kennedy
3 9 Mar 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open1 (2) −18 (70-68-68-64=270) Playoff Peter Hedblom

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open Peter Hedblom Won with par on second extra hole
2 2017 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Dylan Frittelli Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Asian Tour wins (8)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 14 Mar 1999 Wills Indian Open −12 (72-68-66-70=276) 4 strokes Shiv Chawrasia, Kang Wook-soon,
Prayad Marksaeng
2 5 Nov 2000 Hero Honda Masters −18 (68-68-68-66=270) 2 strokes Simon Dyson
3 12 Nov 2000 Star Alliance Open −12 (65-63-68-72=268) 2 strokes Yeh Wei-tze
4 24 Feb 2002 Caltex Singapore Masters1 −14 (70-69-67-68=274) 5 strokes Richard Green
5 23 Feb 2003 Carlsberg Malaysian Open1 −24 (62-65-67-66=260) 4 strokes Retief Goosen, Brad Kennedy
6 11 Nov 2003 Hero Honda Masters (2) −7 (69-71-70-71=281) 1 stroke Pablo del Olmo, Jyoti Randhawa,
Gary Rusnak
7 9 Mar 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open1 (2) −18 (70-68-68-64=270) Playoff Peter Hedblom
8 21 Dec 2014 Dubai Open −16 (73-65-68-66=272) 1 stroke Wang Jeung-hun

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

Asian Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open Peter Hedblom Won with par on second extra hole
2 2017 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open Dylan Frittelli Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Nationwide Tour wins (1)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1 19 Oct 2008 Chattanooga Classic −24 (66-60-66-72=264) Playoff Webb Simpson

Nationwide Tour playoff record (1–0)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2008 Chattanooga Classic Webb Simpson Won with birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (2)
  • 1995 DCM Open
  • 1997 Classic Southern India Open

Results in major championships
Tournament 20042005200620072008200920102011
Masters Tournament CUT
U.S. Open CUT
The Open Championship CUT
PGA Championship CUT CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut

Results in The Players Championship
Tournament 2006200720082009201020112012
The Players Championship CUT T57 CUT
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.

Results in World Golf Championships
Tournament200320042005200620072008200920102011
Match Play
Championship T48 T43
Invitational T63
Champions T48
  Did not play

"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Team appearances

Professional

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See also

References
  1. Atwal Investigated After Crash Death Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. No charges pressed, so Atwal can press on
  3. "India's Atwal matches course record to seize PGA lead". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  4. "Arjun Atwal of India gets historic win". ESPN. Associated Press. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  5. "Woods' practice partner ties for 1st". The News Tribune. 2 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
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