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Atwal stays in contention for the title, eyes unique treble in United States

Atwal stays in contention for the title, eyes unique treble in United States

Arjun Atwal kept the big prize at the PURE Insurance Championship golf in his sights as he added a second straight 4-under 68 at Spyglass Hill to get to 8-under. He was lying third with one more round to go. He shot 68 at Pebble Beach Links a day earlier.

 
Ahead of Atwal were Justin Leonard (69-65) at 10-under and Thongchai Jaidee (70-65) at 9-under.
 
Atwal, who turned 50 this year, is the only Indian to have won on Korn Ferry and PGA TOUR and a win this week would make it a unique treble on all three Tours in the United States.
 
Atwal, who came in the main tournament as a Tuesday qualifier, had interestingly won his PGA TOUR title in 2010 also after getting into the event as a qualifier. “That will be so cool,” said Atwal, who plans to play a few more events to wrap up his playing rights for 2024. He is likely to miss the Q-School as he will be attending the rituals on the first death anniversary of his mother. “That is very important to me,” said Atwal.
 
Justin Leonard put himself in a position for a first PGA TOUR Champions win as he added a 7-under 65 at Spyglass Hill and reached 10-under for two rounds. Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee, a former colleague of Atwal on the Asian Tour, added 65 to his first round 70 to get to second place at 9-under.
 
Atwal was tied for third with Paul Stankowski (71-65).
 
The 36-hole cut saw 54 players at 2-over 146 make the grade and they advanced to the final round.
 
Atwal began the day with four pars and then went birdie-birdie-eagle to get 4-under for the first seven holes. He added birdies on the 11th and the 14th as he jostled for the lead. However, bogeys on the 16th and 18th pulled him down to third place.
 
Atwal is looking to become the first open qualifier to win on PGA TOUR Champions since Dicky Pride.
 
Leonard birdied four of his first and last eight holes to post a 7-under 65.
 
Stankowski tied the PGA TOUR Champions all-time record for most-consecutive birdies with eighth. Starting on the 10th, he birdied eight times from the 13th to the second in his 65 at Pebble Beach.

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September 24, 2023 - By Golf XYZ

Arjun Atwal in shared lead at Pure Insurance on Champions Tour in US

Arjun Atwal in shared lead at Pure Insurance on Champions Tour in US

Arjun Atwal, a qualifier into the main event at the 2023 PURE Insurance Championship on the PGA Tour Champions, shared the first round with a bunch of eight others on the first day. They all shot 4-under 68 at Pebble Links. The tournament is played over two courses, the Pebble Beach and Spyglass.

This is the most number of players in shared lead this season and the others include Vijay Singh, YE Yang of Korea, Americans Jerry Kelly, Dicky Pride and Brian Gay, Richard Green of Australia, Steve Alker of New Zealand, Mike Weir of Canada and Americans Dicky Pride and Brian Gay.

Atwal, the lone Indian to have won on the main PGA Tour, posted a 4-under 68 in Tuesday’s open qualifier to earn a spot into the field. He carded 68 at Pebble Beach Links. Since turning 50 in March, Atwal has made four PGA TOUR Champions starts before this week, with a T11 at the Insperity Celebrity Classic his best finish. This marks his first 18-hole lead/co-lead on PGA TOUR Champions.

Atwal is hoping to wrap up his card for 2024 without going to the Qualifying School. Atwal, whose lone PGA Tour win also came when he made the main field after coming through the Monday qualifier, laughed and said, “Old habits die hard.”

Atwal also revealed, “I can't go to Q-School this year because of family issues. My parents passed away last year. It's my mom's one-year death anniversary coming up and there's no way I'm going (to the Q-School). So hopefully I can get everything done before, get in the Playoffs somehow if I play really well. That's the plan.”

He added, “I hit it OK. Didn't hit it all that great, but it's Pebble and I know Pebble, so I'm glad that it's one of those golf courses where I didn't have to learn on this tour. You know, I know a lot of the breaks on these greens and it helped, I putted really well today.”
On his game coming into the week, he went on, “Nothing really. Just the qualifier, I started to hit it a little bit better and I started to find my lines again on the greens and that's continuing, so I'm looking forward to it.”

About being on the Champions TOUR – he turned 50 in March - he said, “I came from the regular Tour after so many years and I just love it out here. I know, everybody does.”
“Hopefully I get in (a few more events) a few more. I'm going to try and -- if I don't get a spot at Furyk's (another event), I'm going to try to Monday or Tuesday qualify for that as well.”

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September 23, 2023 - By Golf XYZ

Akshay Sharma finishes second as N Thangaraja wins the inaugural Vizag Open

Akshay Sharma finishes second as N Thangaraja wins the inaugural Vizag Open

Gurugram’s Sunhit Bishnoi was the overnight leader after round three. But on the final day, Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma got a great start as the 33-year-old was leading the Vizag Open after 12 holes. With just six holes left, Akshay had a two stroke lead over Sri Lanka’s N Thangaraja.

Unfortunately for Akshay, he scored two bogeys on his final two holes which led him to miss his chance of lifting the title to eventually finish second at seven-under-par. While, Thangaraja with an aggregate score of eight-under-par won the Vizag Open.

Thangaraja became the first winner of the inaugural Vizag Open.

During his victory speech, Thangaraja thanked his wife and his caddie Suresh.

The Vizag Open was his fourth win on the PGTI Tour and first after March 2018. Thangaraja’s three other wins are – the City Bank American Express Chittagong Open 2018, the 2015 PGTI Players Championship presented by Panchkula Golf Club, and the 2013 PGTI Players Championship.

While in the case of Akshay, than his second place finish in Vizag was his season-best finish on the PGTI Tour.

[COVER PHOTO CREDIT: DHRUV TRIVEDI / DKT SPORTS]

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September 23, 2023 - By Dhruv Trivedi

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