Desis seem to like sports played on lush pitches involving hitting balls with sticks at high speed. Arjun Atwal is the first Indian golfer in the PGA Championships (thanks, Vikram):
India’s Arjun Atwal will become the first Indian to compete in the US PGA Championships, traditionally the year’s fourth and final golf Major, when he tees up at the Lower course at Balsturol Golf Club on Thursday… Atwal… would be playing in his first Major of the season and the second of his career…
Other Indians to have played the Majors are Jyoti Randhawa, three times at the British Open, Gaurav Ghei once at British Open and Jeev Milkha Singh, once at the US Open… Indo-Swede Daniel Chopra played and made the cut at the British Open last month. [Link]
The way he got there makes the word ‘wildcard’ seem inadequate:
… Atwal and his bride Ritika headed back to their home in Orlando, Fla. Thusly relocated, Atwal was nearby and available when the Bell South Classic called to say it had an opening for him because torrential rains in Georgia had caused so many players to withdraw that they were down to him, the 23rd alternate. [Link]
Yet he seized his lucky break and did wonders with it:
All Atwal did was make it into a five-man playoff. Phil Mickelson won it. But at the age of 32, Atwal had the best finish of his fledgling PGA career… He has made the cut in all 12 PGA events he has entered, finishing in the top 10 three times.. Atwal has made $802,881 this year… [Link]
Atwal has a typically peripatetic history:
… Atwal took up golf at the age of fourteen, playing at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (which was founded in 1829 and is one of the oldest golf clubs outside the United Kingdom). He also spent two years at school in the United States. [Link]
Not that he ever dwelled upon the uniqueness of his background – from learning the game on the 175-year-old Royal Calcutta links to moving to Long Island at age 15 to be with his brother, Govind, who had a hearing impairment and was sent to the United States for educational reasons. [Link]
Yeah, this guy attended my high school on Long Island… I remember specifically because we were going to run a feature on him (as the other only famous alum of my school district was a serial killer), but then decided not to because of space constraints…
Wow, where did you go to school?
what about vijay singh.
East Meadow School District… So this was about a year ago… But I wonder why he came to a little old suburb out on LI… we didn’t exactly have the best golf program on the island… his coach was a U.S. History teacher…
Oh, I see… Not that he ever dwelled upon the uniqueness of his background – from learning the game on the 175-year-old Royal Calcutta links to moving to Long Island at age 15 to be with his brother, Govind, who had a hearing impairment and was sent to the United States for educational reasons.
Pretty honorable to take a break from such a promising career to be bored out of your mind in our little town.
Arjun Atwal is Yummy..
He can come golf by my house anytime! http://www.eurosport.co.uk/imgbk/golf__/all/big_md-i178619.jpg
HOT HOT HOT! Daaaaaaaammn…just too HOT! Can I get some H20 to put the fire out? 😉
Manish, thanks for putting up a picture of this hot – and talented – desi guy.
Does anyone know if he is single?
bg – vijay singh is Fijian.
sindhya – daym, girl, looks like you stopped reading at the picture! “Â… Atwal and his bride Ritika headed back to their home in Orlando, Fla.” you are, however, completely correct, he is a DISH. here’s a picture of him holding something really large and pointing…
Yeah, he is VERY cute! I heard about Daniel Chopra before but didn’t know he was from Sweden. I have relatives (from Bangladesh) there as well!
Sporting Update: Anju Bobby George, who led India out at the World Championships (athletics for those of you unaware what’s happenning in Helsinki) has just missed out on a medal by a few centimetres. A previous bronze medallist, she’s consistently up in the mix in the long jump but never seems to convert it into a win.
On the other hand, the Americans will be pleased to learn the champion is Tianna Madison, a very impressive teenager. America’s having a blinder of a Champs, whereas the UK is having a shocker.
vijay singh is as indian as anyone one of us. He is Fijian of Indian descent.
Arjun Atwal is the first Indian golfer in the PGA Championships，Aww,Discount Ping Golf i also want to know which school he went .Maybe it will be my school, how perfect is it ! Dreaming nowww…