Arjun Singh Atwal (born 20 March 1973) is an Indian professional golfer who has played on the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

and the

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

and is the first player born in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to participate in and win on the U.S.-based

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

Early life

Atwal was born in a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

family to Harminder Singh Atwal, an industrialist from Asansol and

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, West Bengal, India. He attended St. James' School in Kolkata. At age 14, he took up golf, playing at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club and Tollygunge Club. He also spent two years at school in the United States, attending W. T. Clarke High School, in Westbury, New York, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

Professional career

In 1995, Arjun turned professional. He became one of the leading players on the

, topping the Order of Merit in 2003. Atwal was the second Indian golfer to earn membership of the

after

Jeev Milkha Singh Jeev Milkha Singh (born 15 December 1971) is an Indian professional golfer who became the first player from India to join the European Tour in 1998. He has won four events on the European Tour, becoming the most successful Indian on tour. H ...

and the first to win; he recorded a five-stroke victory in the 2002 Caltex Singapore Masters. 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 professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

in the U.S., earning a PGA Tour card for 2004, making him the first Indian golfer to do so. 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

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 José María Olazábal Manterola (, ; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish Basques, Basque professional golfer from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has wo ...

, Brandt Jobe and

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

. 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. 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. 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 A Monday qualifier is a stroke play golf tournament held on the Monday before a professional golf tournament that awards top finishers entry into the professional tournament. Those who enter the Monday qualifiers are those with no status on the tou ...

to win a PGA Tour event since Fred Wadsworth won the 1986 Southern Open. Because he had lost his tour card, he received no

FedEx Cup The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...

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 Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

for five years at home in Florida. 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

. The win earned Atwal a two-year exemption on the Asian Tour.

Personal life

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. Atwal was not injured, and after a year of investigation, the case was closed with no charges filed. A second driver, John Noah Park, 48, was killed in the incident.

Professional wins (13)

PGA Tour wins (1)

PGA Tour playoff record (0–1)

European Tour wins (3)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

European Tour playoff record (1–1)

Asian Tour wins (8)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Asian Tour playoff record (1–1)

Nationwide Tour wins (1)

Nationwide Tour playoff record (1–0)

Other wins (3)

*1995 DCM Open *1997 Classic Southern India Open *2000 Wills Eastern Open

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in World Golf Championships

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

Team appearances

Professional * Dynasty Cup (representing Asia): 2003 (winners) *

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

(representing India):

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

* Royal Trophy (representing Asia):

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

* EurAsia Cup (representing Asia):

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

(non-playing captain)

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atwal, Arjun Indian male golfers Asian Tour golfers European Tour golfers PGA Tour golfers Expatriate golfers in the United States Korn Ferry Tour graduates Golfers from West Bengal Golfers from New York (state) Recipients of the Arjuna Award Indian Sikhs People from Asansol Sportspeople from Westbury, New York 1973 births Living people