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 $500,000 Dubai Open at the Els Golf Club on Sunday.
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, “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 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. “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.
When Atwal and Wang came to the 18th, the Korean, who at one stage held a three-shot lead after 11 holes, was still ahead by one. On par-5 18th which was the final hole of the 2014 season on Asian Tour, Wang crumbled again, just as he had on the previous and bogeyed. In contrast, the experienced Atwal, who had an up-and-down for a birdie, holed his final putt. That birdie meant a two shot swing, and from one behind, Atwal went one ahead to snatch the title.
Atwal said, “Ecstatic, is how I feel. It is yet to sink in. It's been a long time. There were times when I wanted to give up golf. Injuries and so on. My family, my kids and parents kept me going. They supported me all the way and here I was playing on a lot of invites. And now this.”
On the 18th, the gap was still one and then Wang bogeyed and Atwal birdied the last for one final swing.
Atwal joins Randhawa on 8 titles
Arjun Atwal has joined Jyoti Randhawa as the most successful Indian on the Asian Tour with eight titles, after winning the Dubai Open today at the Els Golf Club here.
This season-closing victory also helped Atwal win an exemption to the Asian Tour.
Other Indians -- Jeev Milkha Singh has six titles, while Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban lahiri have five each.
Atwal's last title was the 2010 Wyndham Championships, which was also the first won by an Indian on the PGA Tour. Two years before that he won the co-sanctioned Malaysian Open, which was his last win on Asian and European Tour.
Atwal was also the first to win a title on European Tour -- the co-sanctioned Singapore Masters in 2002. He won a total of three titles on European Tour, all of which were co-sanctioned with Asian Tour.
Atwal's three European Tour titles are the second best by an Indian, after four by Jeev. SSP Chowrasia has two.
On his season this year, Atwal said, "Yeah, all these tournaments I played on invites this year. This is my fifth invite in a row actually. I'm thankful to all the sponsors that have given me invites. Thank God I don't have to do that again. I never thought that the Asian Tour, I would be asking for invites. Because I was always in the Top 20 in the career Money list, but I had not played enough so I was out of it. It's a good bonus to have where I don't have to call people and ask for invites.”