Atwal in the clear and refocused on golf

Indian star Arjun Atwal has regained his focus and desire for golf after being cleared from involvement in a car crash that had troubled him over the past year.

The former Asian Tour number one fired a three-under-par 69 in the opening round of the US$2.5 million Johnnie Walker Classic on Thursday to lie two off the early pace and revealed later that he was now in the right frame of mind to chase for glory on the world’s fairways.

Atwal, the first Indian to qualify for the US PGA Tour, said the authorities in Florida had informed his lawyers two weeks ago that he was cleared of any wrong-doings in the accident last March.

“As far as I'm concerned, it will be cleared. The report went to the state attorney, Florida State attorney's office two week's ago, and last week I got a call from my lawyer saying they have thrown all the charges out, so I'm clear,” said Atwal.

Following a back injury and the case hanging over his head, Atwal’s form over the past 18 months dipped dramatically. He lost his playing rights on the US PGA Tour but is focused on returning to the world’s elite circuit via the Nationwide Tour which he will return to after his Asian odyssey ends with an appearance at next week’s Maybank Malaysian Open.

“You know, I hurt my back towards the third quarter of 2006. I was struggling with my game anyway and I had a disc out in my lower back. And you know, I got that rehabbed, and by the time I got that rehabbed in 2007 March, I had the car accident.

“You know, it was just like a little -- it was not little; it was a lot of distraction for me to play golf with, you know, the investigation hanging over my head even though I knew everything was going to be okay.

“It’s a pain when you have to deal with other things besides golf, and luckily, everything is sorted out now, so I can go back to concentrating on golf,” said the six-time winner on the Asian Tour.

The dashing Atwal, who became a father for the second time last December, has shown some glimpses of his old form where he finished runner-up on the Nationwide Tour last month and was in the top-15 in his last two starts in India and Indonesia.

“I've basically come back to the golf course and to the tournaments that I've played well at,” said Atwal, who was victorious in the 2000 Hero Honda Masters at this week’s venue.

“So that's why I picked this schedule like this, Delhi Golf Club, DLF, playing the Malaysian Open (which he won in 2003) and trying to get my confidence back just in doing that,” he said.
“I'm getting into contention a bit. I've played three events this year and I've been in contention going into the final round. Jakarta, I was close there, so as long as I can keep doing that, it should be fun,” he said.

Atwal’s opening round included five birdies against two bogeys but he was delighted to save par at his last hole on the ninth after a narrow escape. A wayward drive saw his ball heading towards out of bounds but it hit a building and came back into play.

“I thought the wind was coming through the left and the ball, it was going out-of-bounds. It did land out-of-bounds but there's a building there and it hit the top of the building and then came back on the golf course, but it was still in the trees. So I had to go in there and chip it out and somehow made par,” said Atwal.

February 28, 2008

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