Clarke Grad Atwal Misses Cut in First Masters Tourney

All that separated Arjun Atwal and his golf dreams was a slippery, downhill 7-foot putt on the final hole of the Wyndham Championship late last August.  

Not only was it for his first career PGA Tour victory (and a $918,000 paycheck), but for an invitation to arguably the most prestigious major professional golf tournament in the world: the Masters.  If he missed, he would enter a sudden death playoff with David Toms, a tour veteran and winner of the '01 PGA Championship.  

So Atwal, a 1991 graduate of and former collegiate golfer at Nassau Community College, stepped up, took a deep breath and buried the putt center cup.  

Fast forward to Wednesday, April 6.  That’s when longtime Nassau Community College golf coach Larry Dell Aquila watched as Atwal grooved through the flamingo-pink azaleas and tall Georgia pines of Augusta National Golf Club, preparing for the opening round of the Masters alongside four-time champ Tiger Woods and ’98 champ Mark O'Meara. 

“He was practicing with Tiger and Mark on the back nine," said Dell Aquila, a member of the NJCAA Hall of Fame.  “And he was hitting the ball so great.  As a matter of fact I says ‘Arj, you’re striking the ball real good,’ and he says ‘I feel real good, coach.'” 

Dell Aquila knew he had something special when he first saw Atwal swing back at Nassau in ’93.  The two have shared a father/son  relationship through the years and he's been following Atwal’s progress ever since he turned pro in '95.  

“What really, really impressed me was, Tiger’s a very good friend of his and Tiger usually helps him, but Mark O'Meara, on every single hole, was telling him where he should hit it, why he should hit it here, was pointing stuff out and I said to myself ‘look at this, these two Masters champions are helping this guy out for the first time,’” Dell Aquila said. “ I’m sure, not in any other sport, would somebody that’s going to be competing against you, be bending over backwards to help you.

"I kind of expected it out of Tiger, because he works with Tiger a lot.  But when I saw Mark, you couldn’t believe how much he was going out of his way."

On Thursday, Atwal played very much like it was his first Masters appearance.  He opened up with an 80 (as did ’82 Masters Champ Craig Stadler), which turned out to be the second highest score of the day (Henrik Stenson's 83 was the highest).  

His round included bogeys on 4 and 5 and double bogeys on 10, 13 and 18.  However, it also included a brilliant eagle at the par-5 15th and a birdie at the long 570-yard par-5 8th.

Dell Aquila had to take a flight out Thursday morning for personal reasons, but said he left messages with Atwal’s wife, telling him to “keep plugging away” and that all pros have tough rounds, especially as a rookie at the Masters.   

Well Atwal not only rebounded on Friday but had a great chance to crack 70. He played a bogey-free one-under 35 on the front nine and was two-under on the back nine (he made birdies on 10,12,15 and a bogey on 15) heading into the final hole. 

On 18, he faced a tricky six-footer for par-- similar to one the one he drained last August--for a three-under 69.   His first putt went long left; then, when he went to tap in his bogey putt, the ball lipped around the cup and ended a mere foot away.  He looked up, smirked at his misfortune, and cleaned up his double bogey for a very respectable 71;  nine shots better than the previous day.

Dell Aquila said his son texted Atwal to let him know that they were watching and were extremely proud the way he bounced back. 

He said of his son’s conversation, “So Arjun texted back and said ‘you know coach is like my second father… And thanks for the encouragement.’”