In a recent t2 interview with your golf buddies Indrajit Bhalotia and Gaurav Ghosh, they mentioned how as a boy you’d spend hours standing under one tree on the RCGC range, just practising… 
(Laughs) I was young so I could do it! I went to the range the other day [he is 42 now] and after an hour-and-a-half, I was like, ‘My knee is hurting… my back is hurting’. In those days it didn’t matter how hot it was, I’d be out there hitting balls. And it paid off. A lot of people just like to go out there and play and it works for them. But for me and I think Jeev (Milkha Singh) is also similar in this respect, we mentally don’t feel right if we don’t put work into a tournament. 

When you moved to the US in 2004, how tough was it? 
My dad [Bindi Atwal] had instilled this in me — if you want to play, play with the best. So that was always my goal. To play on the PGA Tour and win there. The first year, 2004, was a struggle because I think I was a little overwhelmed. A PGA Tour is completely different from any of the Asian Tour or European Tour events. It’s the real deal. I struggled a little but managed to keep my conditional card. Then I got comfortable in 2005. I really started to enjoy playing. The American tour was easier for me to make friends as compared to the European Tour. 

And then came the struggles? 
I had a car accident [in 2007] like most people know. Every time you enter my name, it’s on the Internet. That took about a year off my whole system. I struggled and couldn’t really play, my mind wasn’t on it. But then ’08 was another great year. No charges were brought forward and everything was clear. 

So golf really is a mental game.... 
Yeah, so that night my wife Sona calls me in Indonesia, where I was playing, and she goes, ‘The DA’s office called and there are not going to be any charges’. The next week, I won in Malaysia! It really shows how a trying time can mentally drain you. Then in 2009, I tore both my shoulder muscles and had to sit half the year out. I came back on a medical in 2010 and I ran out of the medical just two weeks before I won the Wyndham. 

Tell us about winning the Wyndham Championship. You became the first Monday qualifier to win on the PGA Tour in 24 years! 
[A Monday qualifier is a stroke play golf tournament held on the Monday before a professional tournament that awards top finishers entry into that tournament] 
So here’s the story. I went for a Monday qualifier right after I lost my medical. On Sunday night, the flight was delayed because of bad weather. So I was like, ‘Man, I can’t take this chance’. My caddie said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll drive’. It was an all-night drive, upstate New York, through the mountains and all. So I was like, ‘Okay great, I’ll sleep and stay rested!’ An hour later, we were stopping at 7 Eleven for this big jug of coffee to stay awake. My caddie was fast asleep so I took over the wheel, almost hitting a deer on the way but I didn’t! Reached at 5.30am, jumped in the locker room cold shower and teed it up in the Monday qualifier. And shot 4-under! Yeah, it was nuts! It was a good story because in 24 years, it hadn’t been done. 

Twenty years on, do you have any regrets? 
I had a few losses that I didn’t handle well. The one that I still think about is the three putt at Torrey Pines at the Farmer’s Insurance Open. A lot of people don’t know I was playing in front of Tiger [Woods]. I was on the 18th hole and there was water in front of the greens. And I was like 265 or something and my guy said, ‘Lay up, so you can make a birdie’. I said, ‘I’m not going to lay up, he [Tiger] is playing behind me, he’s going to make a birdie’. And I hit this three wood and landed it on the greens and just on the right fringe. The perfect putt to make for eagle. There’s no way you cannot get it there. It goes up a ridge and right down to the hole. And I hit it a little hard and missed the return. I didn’t even get into the play-off. Tiger won in the play-off and he still gives me crap for it. And I give him crap, because I said if I had gotten into a play-off with you, I wouldn’t be afraid of you. Because I play with him all the time so it’s not like… OMG I’m playing with Tiger Woods. 

Is Tiger Woods recovering? In October, you told t2 that he’d return but recovery would take time...
He’s better. I just spent time with him before coming to India. I went to his house [Arjun and Tiger live in Orlando, US]. He’s started chipping and putting so he’s definitely feeling better, mentally too. 

You’ve been such a great ambassador for India. There is talk of you getting involved with an academy here in Calcutta?
Yes, Gaurav Ghosh is involved and Adit [Aditya Khaitan], being the RCGC captain, is really for it as well. We are trying to organise the whole thing and hopefully the first academy here. My role in that is basically going to be, for example, telling the good players who want to turn pro, how to handle situations. Like there’s this young kid who asked me if he should go to college in America… and he’s really good… so I said why not? 

Was that Viraj Madappa, Calcutta’s young star?
Yes, Viraj. I asked him where he wants to play. He said he wanted to play on the PGA Tour. So then wouldn’t you go to college in America where they have the best colleges for golfers? Go see how good you are, if you’re that good at beating them, you always have the option — like Tiger or Jordan Spieth — to turn pro. But don’t give yourself no choices. So he’s going....  So that will be mainly what I do for the academy. If someone asks me, ‘I want to go play the Asian Tour but how do I do it? How should I set my schedule?’ I can tell these guys. And everybody’s different so I can get to know the kids and tell them. And then comes the technical part — I’m not very good at teaching — but I can show them how to play the golf course, that’s for sure. 

How differently do you go about things now as compared to 20 years ago?
Not even close. When I turned pro 21 years ago, no one worked out. I think the first guy who went to the gym was Kaka (Jeev Milkha Singh) and he went for like 15-20 minutes. He’d do these curls, then run for a little bit…. Now everyone is in the gym because of my friend (Tiger Woods)! Because of that, the game has completely changed. Everyone hits so far because they’re so strong. At 42, my practice is driven by how my body feels. Twenty years ago, nothing would have hurt but now I have knee and back issues so I’ve got to take it easy. And I’ve increased my yoga time.

Mentally, how are you getting into the next phase of life? 
My mind is a lot stronger now. I am very at peace with where I am. Last couple of years, I haven’t played all that great. Like Sona says, I don’t have to prove anything to anyone now. So what I’m trying to do, and started to do, is enjoy the game. I still think I can win. The day I feel I cannot win a tournament anymore, I’ll stop. 

Karo Christine Kumar
Pictures: B. Halder

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