June 12, 2016: Midway through the final round of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Arjun Atwal was teasing hope with a brilliant performance. But a rough turn and difficult back nine slipped the Indian back down the order, slipping from a likely top 20 finish to end up T52. Nonetheless, it was a good week for Atwal, who was playing his first PGA TOUR event of the year. Daniel Berger, rookie of the year in 2015, showed why he is rated so highly, claiming a comfortable three shot victory over Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Brooks Koepka. Berger shot 3-under 67 in the final round.
Atwal got off to a brilliant start, making a hat-trick of birdies to begin his final round. He needed a single putt at all three of those holes. He padded his score further when he made a fourth birdie at the par-4 fifth hole.
It took the 587th ranked Indian just 31 shots to get through his first nine holes, including just 12 strokes on the green. But things turned grim just as he made the turn. He fell into the left rough with his second shot, before taking three putts from 62 feet to sign on a double bogey.
Atwal steadied his boat with five straight pars, before ending the day bleeding four shots between the 16th through 18th holes.
He made three birdies this week at the par-5 third hole, but at the other par-5, the 16th he lost two shots in the green side bunker before two putting from five feet for his second double bogey of the day.
The left rough caught him a bit on the seventeenth, where he took two putts from 40 feet for a bogey. Atwal was forced to take a drop at the 18th after sinking his tee shot in the water, costing him an additional stroke to end the week.
As the players waited for the rain to dissipate, it was reported that Mickelson, often Berger’s practice partner, poked fun at him for being the rookie of the year without a win. Well, Berger responded with a smile before answering the veteran golfer by taking the title on Sunday.
At 13-under 267, Berger is the 13th first time winner this season. “To kind of get it done today means a lot,” Berger said. “To do that with so many great players, Hall of Famers behind me, it’s something that I’ll never forget and I just love the way I hung in there and was able to get it done.”
Atwal though has plenty to cheer, having played extremely well to qualify for the tournament. He fired 64 at Windyke Country Club’s East Course on the Sunday leading into St. Jude Classic.
Since winning the Dubai Open in December 2014, Atwal has been dealing with a drought. But an oasis of hope seems to have sprung out his run in Memphis this past week.
