Dubai: India’s Arjun Atwal snatched a last-gasp victory from South Korea’s Wang Jeung-hun to win the Asian Tour’s inaugural season-ending Dubai Open by a stroke at 16 under par at the Els Club on Sunday.
Both players had gone into the final day sharing a four-way lead at 10 under par with South Africa’s Jbe Kruger and India’s Shiv Kapur, but only Atwal and Wang surged forward in the last round to create a dramatic match play situation between the final pairing, which went right to the wire.
Wang had been three strokes clear at the 11th hole with six birdies to reach 16 under par, after Atwal had four birdies on his front nine before bogeying the 10th to go 13 under.
But Wang then bogeyed the 12th hole, both birdied 13 and Atwal birdied 14 to pull it back to a one-stroke difference, before both again birdied the 15th, leaving Wang on 17 under and Atwal on 16 under, thanks to a pivotal hat-trick of birdies.
Atwal then appeared to have lost it when his drive landed wide on the 17th for bogey, but Wang also bogeyed that hole despite appearing to have the easiest of tap-ins for par as the pressure mounted. That sent Wang back to 16 under and Atwal to 15 under.
With Wang still one shot clear heading into the final hole, he then struck wide on the 18th and two putted on the green for bogey, while Atwal tapped in for an easy birdie and the win at 16 under, a stroke clear of Wang.
“He had it pretty much locked up,” Atwal said of Wang. “Every time I hit it inside he would knock one in, and it almost became like a match play.
“I told myself I needed to get out of that mode and do my own thing. Then on the back nine I made three birdies in a row. That’s when I started to be myself and let whatever happened, happen.
“I told him on the 18th that I felt bad for him. But he’s still only 19-year-old. He’s got all the tools. He’s a really talented golfer and he’s going to win a lot.
“The more times he putts himself into this type of position, he’ll handle it better.”
Meanwhile, Wang admitted he let the pressure get the better of him.
“I just tried to play my game, but I couldn’t because of the pressure,” said Wang. “I had a lot of pressure on me and I just tried my best. But I don’t have any regrets, I think I did my best.”
This was Atwal’s 12th career win, his eighth on the Asian Tour and his first career win since 2010 when he won the Wyndham Championship on the US PGA Tour. Since then a debilitating back injury had seen him lose his card in America, and consider quitting the game, making this comeback victory all the more sweeter.
