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JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC

February 28, 2008

Arjun Atwal

NEW DELHI, INDIA

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Thanks for joining us this afternoon. A nice 69 in the opening round of the Johnnie Walker Classic. Tell us about your round.
ARJUN ATWAL: It was good. I didn't really hit it all that great, but I putted well in the first 10, 11 holes, but then I didn't putt all that great.
CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Interesting last hole, the 9th, talk us through that.
ARJUN ATWAL: I thought the wind was coming through the left and the ball, it was going out-of-bounds. It did land out-of-bounds, but there's a building there and it hit the top of the building and then came back on the golf course, but it was still in the trees. So I had to go in there and chip it out and somehow made par.
CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Having won at DLF Golf Club, does that give you confidence coming into a big event like this?
ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah, I won here in 2000 I think. It was fun back then.
As some of you know, I struggled with my game in the last year and a half, and so I've basically come back to the golf courses and to the tournaments that I've played well at. So that's why I picked this schedule like this, Delhi Golf Club, DLF, playing Malaysian Open, getting my confidence back just doing that.
CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: It seems your game is going quite nicely as well the last few weeks. You've had some good rounds going?
ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah, I'm getting into contention a bit. I've played three events this year and I've been in contention going into the final round. Jakarta, I was close there, so as long as I can keep doing that, it should be fun.

Q. How are the course conditions?
ARJUN ATWAL: Oh, it's in great shape. It's in great shape. I've never seen the greens this firm. Usually when we used to play here, the greens used to be soft. But I think they had to firm them up, because if there's wind and they have soft greens, it would be 20-plus under winning, you know. So it's good. I think it's in good shape.

Q. Did the week off help?
ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah, I took a week off, but my neck was tight. It was tight in Jakarta and I thought I would rest it. And today it got really sore again when I was playing, and I hit a few shots that had to kind of go around it and hopefully it's okay by this time to play tomorrow.

Q. You said that the last year and a half wasn't so great and that you pick tournaments that had some positive memories and positive feel for you. Can you just tell us what exactly happened with your game in the last 18 months or so?
ARJUN ATWAL: You know, I hurt my back at the end of like towards the third quarter of 2006. I was struggling with my game anyway and I had a disc out in my lower back. And you know, I got that rehab, and by the time I got that rehabbed in 2007 March, I had the car accident. You know, it was just like a little -- it was not little; it was a lot distracting for me to play golf with, you know, the investigation hanging over my head even though I knew everything was going to be okay.
It's a pain when you have to deal with other things besides golf, and luckily, you know, everything is sorted out now, so I can go back to concentrating on golf.
CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: What's the status of the investigation?
ARJUN ATWAL: As far as I'm concerned it, will be cleared. The report went to the state attorney, Florida State attorney's office two week's ago, and last week I got a call from my lawyer saying they have thrown all the charges out, so I'm clear.
CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: So back to a golf focus for you now?
ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah, definitely.

Q. I remember you telling us just before the Masters that the good feel that you got after your second son was born, that was a good point for you?
ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah, yeah, definitely, December 10, my second son was born, and I was home and I had two months off and it was just perfect. My whole mind-set changed when he came. You know, your focus changes in life. You are trying to look at your kids, so it was fun for me being at home.
CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Arjun, thanks for joining us and all the best for the rest of the week.

End of FastScripts

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