Atwal shoots 80 with rough back nine
Arjun Atwal of India hits a tee shot during the first round of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. (April 7, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A rough round had a weird ending Thursday for Arjun Atwal. He had to wait awhile for a ruling about his tee shot on No. 18, which landed under a dense bush and near a concession building. After finding a decent place to drop, he did hit a good shot into the fairway. He took a double-bogey six and finished his first Masters round with an 80.
The front nine seemed fine. After missing six- and seven-footers for birdie on 2 and 3, he surprised himself by sinking a par putt on No. 6, birdied from the pine straw on 8 and sank a five-footer for par on 9. But the back nine turned into a land mine. He was 7 over through the first four holes on that side, including a 6 (in the water, and a bunker) on the par-3 12th.
Atwal, the former Long Islander from Clarke High and Nassau Community College, did summon enough poise to make an eagle on the par-5 15th to get back to 6 over. "I have no idea what I did out there today," he said. "It was just a bad, bad, bad day."
But that's all part of being in the Masters, which is packed with pressure under its quaint, flower-bedecked appearance. "I guess so," Atwal said, not consoled by that reality.
Sergio surges
Sergio Garcia, whose game was in such disarray that he shut it down well before the end of the 2010 season, played with Atwal and had a solid day. In one of his best rounds at a major in recent memory, he shot 3-under-par 69 on an eagle, four birdies and three bogeys. "My confidence is not back to where it should be," he said, "but it's definitely better."
