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WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP

August 21, 2010

Arjun Atwal

GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA

MARK STEVENS: Okay. I'd like to welcome back Arjun Atwal, another good round. Moved to 17-under for the tournament. You talk a little bit about your round today and then we'll take some questions.
ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah. It was fun again. I started off not so well but, you know, got it back a little bit on the back-9. The golf course was playing, you know, fair. It was easy, no wind.
I think I missed a couple fairways and maybe a couple of greens today. Besides that, my ball striking was pretty good and I was happy with that.
MARK STEVENS: Questions.

Q. One of the TV announcers mentioned your relationship with Tiger, you guys practice a lot. What maybe have you taken from him? Have you guys been in contact with each other this week?
ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah. Just, you know, he texted me a couple times saying, "Well done, Bud." That's it. It's nothing more than that.
Yeah, we've known each other for awhile now ever since I joined Isleworth in '05. We've become good friends. He's been helpful to anyone who is around him over there and, you know, I've been lucky to hang around with him and see how his work ethic is and how he practices and works out and all that. Definitely helps.

Q. Also along those same lines tomorrow, people probably -- casual golf fan doesn't know you've won in Europe. Do you feel you're in a good flow as far as closing and getting it done tomorrow?
ARJUN ATWAL: I think so. I've never won on the PGA TOUR but I've won on almost every other Tour I've played on and I don't see why it's going to be different, you know, trying to win a tournament here.
If I'm hitting it well and if I'm playing well, you know, tomorrow I don't see why I can't win. I'm looking forward to it tomorrow.

Q. Arjun, I'm sure you understand --
ARJUN ATWAL: That my French name?

Q. -- you understand your status. You understand the way the PGA works and all. How does that affect the way you play knowing there's not a Playoff out there, knowing maybe your goals are different than everyone else's this week.
ARJUN ATWAL: I think, you know, once the tournament starts, no one really thinks about it like that. I mean you ask any of the guys who are even in the field who have to get into next week or improve their position for The Playoffs, once the bell goes off, I don't think they think like that.
I mean I don't. Even if I had to, get my position better for The Playoffs, once I tee off, I'm just thinking about the game. I think, you know, that's the way to go.

Q. Arjun, you've dealt with Q-School, also trying to get in the 25. What was it like --
ARJUN ATWAL: Nationwide, you mean?

Q. Yeah. What was the pressure trying to keep your card coming off the medical knowing the number was there?
ARJUN ATWAL: The whole thing was a mistake last year. I've never been injured in my life, you know, and last year I got injured with my shoulders and whatever. I took what, four and a half months off or whatever it was, and it hadn't -- my left one healed, my right one was still sore and I was getting so sick of just sitting out so I decided to come back early.
I couldn't hit it out of my shadow when I came back. I think it was John Deere or Milwaukee. I was hitting my driver like 250 off the tee and I just wanted to play. I thought it would be okay.
I think I made one cut in the fall and I played like whatever, 12, 13 events, I made one cut and it was stupid now that I look at it.
I had only 8 events this year and the medical to make 600 grand. That's a lot coming off basically a no golf year for me last year. I don't consider missing cuts playing golf.
So I started off -- you know, I played well this year in spurts but, you know, like you said, it was tough. It was tough to make it.

Q. When did you feel that you were a hundred percent healthwise?
ARJUN ATWAL: It's not a hundred percent. Unless I get surgery on it, it's never going to a hundred percent. It's a lot stronger. I got a cortisone shot in this one (the right) and rehabbed both of them. I've been fine.

Q. They said on TV that you had seen an Indian doctor. You seem to say that wasn't such a big deal.
ARJUN ATWAL: I tried everything.

Q. What exactly happened?
ARJUN ATWAL: There's a girl tennis play from India, she went and saw this guy who is like an acupuncturist. He does needles and stuff. And so I called her, she's an acquaintance of mine, and I asked her if it worked. She said yeah, had a torn something in my wrist, fixed it.
So I went over just because I thought I was going to get surgery and I wanted to try every option. I went over there but it didn't work. I got back and then I saw Dr. Hawkins in South Carolina and gave me a cortisone and I was on my way.

Q. Do you still need surgery? Are you going to have to buckle down and get it eventually, you think?
ARJUN ATWAL: I don't know. It hasn't really gotten worse, you know, so like ever since my rehab, it's gotten stronger. I have certain days where if I sleep on this side (right side) then I'll get up and it takes me a little while to move. If it doesn't get any worse, I'm not going to get surgery. I don't like getting surgeries.

Q. Just to clarify your professional victories Tour by Tour, can you tell us how many on each to your?
ARJUN ATWAL: Yeah, sure. I turned pro in '95. I won four times on the Indian Tour. They do have an Indian Tour (laughter). It's like an average of 80,000 a week total purse.
Got my card on the Asian Tour. I won seven times, I think, on the Asian Tour and then three times on the European Tour and once on the Nationwide Tour.

Q. Was the Nationwide last year?
ARJUN ATWAL: '08. That's how I got my card back for last year.

Q. What do you consider your crowning achievement to this point in golf?
ARJUN ATWAL: My three wins in Europe. Those are all pretty good ones.

Q. One of them stand out over the others?
ARJUN ATWAL: First one. There's a Pete Dye golf course. It was on the European Tour. I had a couple shot lead or one shot lead and I won by four or five at the end and it was a really tough golf course. I absolutely played perfect golf in the final round. I was proud of that.

Q. What tournament was that?
ARJUN ATWAL: The Singapore Masters.

Q. Do you have anything in your formative golf years that you have brought through to this point, the frustration, the pain, the injury, the success, the lack of success?
ARJUN ATWAL: No.

Q. Anything that goes back to home?
ARJUN ATWAL: No. Nothing. I try to forget everything and just move forward.

Q. I believe your low round on Sundays so far this year is a 70.
ARJUN ATWAL: I have no idea.

Q. Is that a number in your head or do you have a certain number in your head with the lead?
ARJUN ATWAL: I don't really have a number. I'm going to see the leaderboard and, you know, play accordingly.
If I'm leading by a bunch, I'll keep trying to go ahead. If I'm behind, I'll try to be more aggressive. It just depends on how guys -- obviously there's low scores out there, guys -- when I got here today I was tied for the lead and so I expect more of that tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

Q. Arjun, have you ever talked publicly about the car wreck? Do you know if people know what happened that night? Do you really care if people know what happened that night?
ARJUN ATWAL: No. I try not to bring that up or talk about it. It was an accident, you know, it was bad time for both the families involved, you know. Obviously theirs was more painful. But it was an accident. There was no one to blame. So, you know, that's it.

Q. Were you scared before the ruling or the non-ruling came?
ARJUN ATWAL: Not really, because I didn't do anything wrong. It was just a matter of -- it took so long, it took a year, you know, and it was just -- you know, there were so many details our lawyers were going into.
So you would have doubts, you know, but I mean I knew that I didn't do anything wrong and the other person didn't. It was no one's fault. It was an accident. That was it.

Q. Were you driving too fast and I think they said the cars never touched?
ARJUN ATWAL: They never touched. We were going over the speed limit.
MARK STEVENS: Anything else?

Q. Just one thing on today's round. It was so tightly bunched. Were you surprised to suddenly break clear of the field like that so quickly?
ARJUN ATWAL: No. Not really. I mean because we were the last group so it was up to us to separate ourselves, you know. That's what I was trying to do and I did a good job of that. It was all right.

Q. Arjun, was there one shot that kind of or one hole that kind got you going into your run on the back-9?
ARJUN ATWAL: The second shot on 11. Yeah. It was a funny yardage for me because I was in between 5 and 4. My caddy wanted to hit 4 and I was thinking 5. He's like, it's a right pin. My rule is not to go hard at a right pin. I'd rather hit more club and cut it in there. It came out perfect. I got one clap for that. That was good (laughter). Yeah. It was fun, though. That was the shot.
MARK STEVENS: Thanks a lot.

Q. You had a chance at BellSouth in a playoff. Where were you going into that final round and what did you take away from that experience?
ARJUN ATWAL: I shot 64, I think, in the final round and I was done like two hours before everybody else, guys that were leading but -- I didn't know what to expect out of that playoff because I was in the situation where I was waiting around, I didn't know if I was going to get in the playoff and when I got out there I was definitely not ready for it.
I hit my second shot in the water. The one that I really regretted was San Diego where I three-putted the last hole to miss the playoff with Tiger. I would love to get in a playoff with him (laughter).
MARK STEVENS: Thanks a lot, Arjun. Good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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