India's Arjun Atwal stepped on the gas and made a big move on the final day with a four-under 68 to finish a commendable tied 12th in the USD five million HSBC Champions golf tournament in Shanghai on Sunday.
The Asia's richest tournament saw Tiger Woods crumbling in the face of some fine golf by 30-year-old Englishman David Howell who won by a huge three-shot margin.
Atwal's score could have been at least two shots better, but for a 'ball move' that cost him a one-shot penalty and a missed three-footer on the 18th. Atwal finished with rounds of 69, 70, 73 and 68 for a tournament tally of eight-under 280.
Despite the disappointments, Atwal was pleased, saying, "I think I was on the top of my game today and played my best (round) of the week. I hit the ball well, hit the irons well and putted well, too. The iron play was great because I hit pin high and got all my distances right."
He picked up USD 81,000 approximately.
Jyoti Randhawa, who alongwith Atwal, will provide the next Indian challenge at the World Cup in Portugal, too, closed with a second nine of 33, but it was barely enough to make up for his three-over 39 on his starting nine, after starting from the tenth tee. His par 72 saw him end at tied 45th and pocket USD 25,300 approximately.
Howell, described by Woods as a "cool dude" a day earlier, proved to be just that as he handled well the pressure of playing with the world's best player and chaotic scenes of more than 3,000 people crowding around the final group.
