Irving: India’s Arjun Atwal marked his debut on the PGA Champions Tour (for Over 50) with an impressive Tied-11 place finish at the Invited Celebrity Classic here.
The only Indian to win on the PGA Tour, Atwal, who celebrated his 50th birthday last month, shot rounds of 70-68-70 and finished 5-under 208 in the 54-hole event at the Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas.
The final round saw Atwal, who played this week on a sponsor’s invite, hole three birdies, the third of which came on the closing 18th hole. He dropped a double bogey on the Par-4 ninth, which he had bogeyed on the first day also.
Atwal plans to play the Seniors, while also playing the main PGA Tour. He is also likely to feature in some Senior Majors this season.
Next week Atwal plays the Mexico Open at Vidanta as will American-Indian Akshay Bhatia. World No. 1 Jon Rahm, the Masters champion headlines the field. Also in the field will be Tony Finau (No. 11) and Wyndham Clark (No. 14).
Mark Hensby captured his first win on PGA TOUR Champions in a four-hole playoff over Charlie Wi. After tying each of the first three playoff holes (Nos. 18, 18, 17) with pars, Hensby made par on the fourth playoff hole (No. 18), while Wi made double bogey after hitting his second shot into the penalty area. This was the first playoff of the 2023 season on PGA TOUR Champions.
