DUBAI: Arjun Atwal held his nerve to hole an up-and-down for a birdie on the 72nd hole and end a four-year title drought as he won the inaugural USD 500,000 Dubai Open at the Els Golf Club today.
Atwal won his first and only title on the PGA Tour for his last success on a pro Tour in 2010 and his last success on Asian Tour came in 2008.
A message from his best friend, Tiger Woods, a series of invites and finally his putting falling in place saw Atwal get back to the winners’ circle.
On the long wait and the time in between, he said, “It’s as good. It’s actually as good (as PGA Tour win). I can’t believe that I’m saying that, comparing it to my lifetime goal was to win on the PGA TOUR.
To have won today, which I think it’s maybe even a greater feeling today. Because the way things went the last two years, I didn’t think I would play again or compete again.
Especially when I had the back injury and the hip injury, I couldn’t walk. So it was really like, you know, debilitating.
So, yeah, it’s something else right now.”
Playing on his fifth straight invite this week, after losing status on PGA Tour, the 41-year-old Atwal carded a final round of six-under 66 with eight birdies and two bogeys to total 16-under 272, pushing young 19-year-old Korean Wang Jeung-hun (67) to second place.
Meanwhile, Shiv Kapur, who had a share of the four-way overnight lead, crumbled to a final round of even par 72 with three birdies and three bogeys to drop to tied 11th alongwith Gaganjeet Bhullar (71).
Atwal also revealed that his friend Tiger Woods sent him a message this morning. “I have been going through this two years of struggle, (and) he’s always been nothing but positive. I’ve spent some time with him in Jupiter (Tiger’s home) and all that stuff, and he’s always guided me the right way of which way I should go with my game or how the health is feeling, how to go about rehabbing stuff and all that stuff.
In fact, today he texted me in the morning that and told me, “Shoot 2 under a side; shoot 68 and you should be good.” He was wrong (laughter). He’s always encouraging me and we’re really close friends.”
Jeev Milkha Singh, one of the ‘Big Three’ of Indian golf ? alongside Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa ? was tied 31st at six-under 282 with a final round 68 and Atwal’s friend in US, Daniel Chopra (70), who has also been playing in Asia last few weeks, finished tied 35th at five-under 283.