Atwal wins playoff in Chattanooga
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- The world’s first Coca-Cola bottling plant is located in Chattanooga. Arjun Atwal would love to bottle the skills he displayed this week after defeating Webb Simpson with a birdie at the first hole of a sudden death playoff at the Chattanooga Classic Both players finished regulation play at Black Creek tied at 24-under 264, two strokes shy of the tournament record.Kris Blanks (68) bogeyed the final hole but still managed to finish third at 20-under 268. Hunter Haas (71) closed with three birdies over the last five holes to creep into fourth at 19-under, while No. 1 money winner, Brendon de Jonge (70) was fifth at 18-under.
Four players, Ricky Barnes, Won Joon Lee, Matt Weibring and Bill Lunde, finished 17-under, tied for sixth.
Atwal, from Calcutta, India, had a two shot lead standing on the 16th tee but drove into a fairway bunker, up against the lip, and had to chip out. He hit a poor third shot into a greenside bunker and failed to get up and down. Simpson made par and the two were tied.
“I told myself I was still in it, I hadn’t lost the lead,” said Atwal, who attended W. Tresper Clarke High School in East Meadow, NY for two years where he studied liberal arts. “I was still in control of my game. I can’t control what he does.”
Simpson, a Wake Forest All-American who turned pro in June, almost lost control when he hit a 3-iron at the 230 yard, par-3 17th hole left of the green, under a tree.
“In hindsight, I should have hit 4-iron,” said the 23-year-old. “When I saw it under the tree I was thinking if I could just get it on the green I could make a putt.” Simpson found a way to chip to 30-feet and holed the putt for par, a score matched by Atwal.
Both players two-putted the short par-5 18th hole for birdies and headed back to the tee for the playoff where Simpson’s second shot found the greenside bunker after each had driven in the fairway. Atwal hit a hybrid club to 25 feet to put the pressure on Simpson, who exploded to 5 feet and waited. Atwal comfortably two-putted before Simpson missed his chance to extend the playoff.
“I’m happy,” said Simpson. “I wish I could have won. Everything I learned this week will help me next time. Arjun’s pretty experienced and he wasn’t going to give me too much. No Q-School now so that’s a relief.”
With the $54,000 check Simpson moved to 45th on the money list and will play in the Tour Championship where he could play his way into THE 25 and earn a trip to the PGA TOUR. Not bad for someone who had only conditional status before the week began.
In 2005, Atwal came close to winning on the PGA TOUR, where he was the first player from India to become a member. A final round 64 at the Bell South Classic earned him a spot in a five man playoff, won by Phil Mickelson, and he finished 82nd on the money list that year with $963,768.
Early last year Atwal was involved in a fatal car crash possibly associated with street car racing in Windermere, FL, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Atwal was not injured. After a one year investigation no charges were filed.
“I’ve been working for this all my career,” said Atwal, who won the Maybank Malaysian Open on the European Tour earlier this year. “I’ve had a few things going on away from the course. To finally win in America feels really good and getting my card back on the PGA TOUR will be a sweet bonus.”
Atwal moved from 34th to 15th with the $90,000 check and will be back on the PGA TOUR next year.
Blanks locked up third place with his best performance since he won the Bank of America Open in June. His back has given him trouble for the last three months and his best finish during that time is a tie for 16th at the Albertsons Boise Open.
“I haven’t been in contention since then so it was nice to know I was in the running to get a top-five,” said the Warner Robbins, GA native. “Starting that far back I needed some help from the leaders.”
Blanks jumped to10th position on the money list and is looking forward to the two remaining tournaments on the schedule.
“It’s been a building process since the injury but I’m a little ahead of where I thought I might be.”
With his $20,000 check, de Jonge now leads No. 2, Jarrod Lyle, by almost $40,000 with $413,148 and is chasing the Tour record of $495,009 set by Troy Matteson in 2005.
Barnes finally got off the bubble, where he has been the past two weeks, jumping four spots to 21st, while a missed cut for Ryan Hietala, who won the Cox Classic earlier this year, dropped him just outside THE 25 to 26th.
“Arjun will obviously leapfrog me,” said Barnes, “But one more good week is what I want, another top-10, because I want security going into the Tour Championship.”
D.A. Points (65) finished tied for 14th but remained in 40th position on the money list.
Final Round News & Notes: Brad Fritsch (70), playing as a single in the first group, made a hole-in-one at the 165 yard third hole, the third ace this week, bringing the total aces on Tour this year to 27. Last year, a record 30 aces were made…D.A. Points (65), Geoffrey Sisk (70) and Bubba Dickerson (70) returned bogey-free rounds…The final round scoring average was 72.701, the highest in Chattanooga Classic history and the first time over 72…The most difficult hole for the week was No. 13 while the easiest hole was the 6th...Next week the Nationwide Tour heads south to Miami for the $625,000 Miccosukee Championship, the final full field event of the season. All four rounds will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel. Players will be striving to finish inside the top-60 on the money list to earn a spot in the final event of the season, the Nationwide Tour Championship at TPC Craig Ranch, November 3-9, where the purse is $1 million.
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