PGA Tour: Arjun Atwal Wins the Wyndham Championship with Nothing to Lose

It was now or never. Well, it was at least now or not next year.

Arjun Atwal won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday by posting a three-under 67 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC, finishing the tournament at 20-under par.

Without a Tour card, Atwal had to play his way into the Wyndham by winning last weekend's qualifying tournament. Which he did.

His victory at Sedgefield is the first by a Monday-qualifier in 24 years, though the recent revoking of his PGA Tour card means that he will not be eligible for the upcoming FedEx Cup playoffs. However, Atwal can rest assured this postseason knowing that he's already punched his ticket to at least start 2011 on the PGA Tour.

Atwal lost his Tour card towards the end of July, as he had fallen too far down the money earnings list and his medical exemptions had expired. This victory had immense implications for Atwal, as his card will be reinstated for next season.

Atwal became the first Indian-born player to win a PGA tournament, though he had won 10 previous tournaments on the Asian and European Tours. Needing a par on No. 18 to avoid a playoff with clubhouse leader David Toms, Atwal overcame two unnerving shots on the final hole to sink his par putt an pocket $918,000 in winnings.

The oversize check handed out as the sun set over Greensboro is worth more than Atwal had made all year.

Entering Sunday, Atwal carried a 17-under, three-hole lead over a slew of players at 14-under. The final round saw several players charge up the leader board, as well as a few minutes late in the day when seven golfers were tied at 18-under.

Toms birdied Nos. 15, 16, and 18 for the second-straight day to finish the round at 19-under, tied with Atwal who at the time was teeing off on the par-three No. 16.

It was on 16 that Atwal would make his move.

As a Greensboro native and a lucky son-of-a-gun, I was able to snag tickets in a "skybox" on the back of the 16th green. I had seen several birdies throughout the day, including Toms's 30-foot birdie putt, and could tell that this particular pin placement was best played with an aggressive shot.

The upper shelf of the green, containing the hole, was relatively flat and the soft ground meant that most balls would stop a few inches from its initial divot.

Aggressive, Atwal was.

His shot from the elevated tee box landed, and stayed, about six feet from the flagstick, leaving him a nice uphill lie on which he could put the tournament in his back pocket with no groups behind him to swipe it. A confident stroke directed the ball into the left half of the cup as Atwal pumped his fist, knowing that he had taken the lead with just two holes remaining.

A solid par on No. 17 sent Atwal to the 18th tee with a one-stroke lead, needing only a par to avoid a playoff with Toms.

His tee shot, however, drew a few "oohs" from the crowd as it sailed into the left rough, much farther away from the green than most players' tee shots. And if that wasn't enough to get those hoping for a playoff giddy, his second shot, with what sounded like a wood of some sort, skimmed briskly over the green, coming to rest against the CBS tower at the backside of the hole.

Being able to take a no-penalty drop benefited Atwal greatly, as his ball had been in an unplayable lie. A solid chip shot from the back rough rolled to about eight feet, where Atwal then got to watch Scott McCarron putt a shorter version of his very shot.

With line, speed and distance calculated, the Calcuttan rolled in the final putt of the tournament. The final putt of the 2010 PGA regular season.

Atwal's final putt as a winless PGA player.

So while Atwal's Windermere, FL, neighbor and practice buddy Tiger Woods prepares for a possible invite to the Ryder Cup and the media frenzy that is sure to follow him regardless, don't expect too much fan fare to follow the Indian golfing pioneer.

Until he runs over a fire hydrant, that is.