Arjun Atwal slips at Barracuda Champ

Arjun Atwal had a forgettable final round at the Barracuda Championships to squander a great chance of a solid finish this week.

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Arjun Atwal

 

A disastrous final round of golf saw Arjun Atwal slip outside the top 50 at the Barracuda_Championships. The Indian gave back two points in the fourth round to finish with an overall score of 21 to finish in T53 at this event played on the modified Stableford format. Atwal endured four bogeys and a birdie on a miserable Sunday after being inside the top twenty for much of this week. Geoff Ogilvy took big cuts in the final round, taking 14 points for a 5 point victory and a well earned title.

 

Atwal three putted at the second hole, including an expensive miss from within six feet to suffer his first bogey of the day. At the par-4 fifth, Atwal made a five to surrender another point and slip down to 21 points.

 

Eager to make amends, the Indian resorted to safety as he made the turn without any further damage. Atwal was even for the day, when he pitched to within five feet from the pin at the 14th before making a birdie.

 

But bogeys at the 16th and 18th dropped him back by two again as he completed his week slipping 34 spots on the final day of the tournament. The key to his poor score on Sunday was in making a meagre 54% of the greens in regulation combined with a driving accuracy of 79%.

 

Justin Hicks had the best effort of the final round. The American made ten birdies and two bogies for a score of 18 on Sunday that catapulted him to 44 points overall and second place for the tournament. Geoff Ogilvy had a three point lead at 47 points with two left to play at the time of posting this report.

 

Update: Ogilvy made five birdies and a bogey, but more importantly an eagle at the par-5 13th hole to clinch a comfortable victory. The victory gave Ogilvy access to the PGA Championship and the Hyundai Tournament of Champions.

 

Report by Anand Datla

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