Atwal shines bright in moderate year for Indian golf

It was a resurgence of sorts for the Orlando-based golfer,who had struggled with injuries over the past couple of years and had lost his PGA card going into the tournament.

He was also the first Monday qualifier in 24 years to win a tournament on the PGA Tour. The victory secured Atwal an invitation to next year’s Masters Tournament,making him only the second Indian after Jeev to play in the year’s first Major at Augusta National.

The Wyndham triumph also fetched him a place in the list of nominees for the Asian Tour’s Special Achievement Award but he lost out to Thai legend Boonchu Ruangkit.

The 37-year-old neighbour and practice partner of Tiger Woods thus became the biggest name in Indian golf with one PGA,three European and seven Asian titles to his credit.

It was a fantastic turnaround of fortunes for the golfer,who was hampered by weightlifting injuries to both shoulders for a couple of seasons.

Three years ago,a driver racing with him on an Orlando street died in a crash and although Atwal was cleared of any wrongdoing,the year-long investigation took an emotional toll on the golfer.

But having recovered from the turmoil,Atwal ended the year as the highest-ranked Indian in Asia at 124th,which put him seventh on the regional list.

In contrast,it was a forgettable year for Jeev.

For a major part of the season’s first half,Jeev nursed a rotator cuff injury in his left shoulder and soon after recovering from that,he was laid low by a back problem due to which he experienced the “worst pain” in his career.

Part of the Asian team for next month’s Royal Trophy in Thailand,the Chandigarh-golfer is actually in doubt for the event due to the nagging problem due to which he skipped the Indian Open — the joint richest Asian Tour event held at the Delhi Golf Club.

Such has been the slide for Jeev this year that from being the first Indian to make the top-50 of world rankings,he is down to 168th and has been forced to cut down on the number of tournaments he played to avoid burnout.

“I generally play 36 tournaments but next year I would play around 30. So I will cut down around a month from my usual schedule,” the injury-ravaged golfer said.