Tied 17th, Atwal back on track

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, Apr 17: Arjun Atwal got back some of the confidence with a creditable top-20 finish in the Verizon Heritage PGA Tour event at Harbour Town Links. Atwal, struggling with missed cuts for past few weeks, shot a par round of 71 on the final day to finish tied 17th.
Meanwhile, Australian Aaron Baddeley won his first PGA Tour title on Sunday rallying with two late birdies ahead of Jim Furyk.Baddeley, who was tied with Furyk while entering the round, had a two-shot lead by the fifth hole. He was then down by two after 11th.
Thereafter, the 25-year-old Aussie birdied two of the hardest holes on the PGA Tour to move in front and stay there till the end.
Baddeley shot a one-under 70 to finish at 15 under, a stroke ahead of Furyk (71) and two ahead of Vaughn Taylor (66) and Billy Mayfair (69). It was also a day after the first anniversary for Baddeley.
Atwal had an eventful round with five birdies and five bogeys. He began with a birdie on second and dropped a shot off the next. Then came another birdie on fifth only to be followed by another bogey.
A bogey on eighth saw him turn in one over but a birdie on tenth again brought him to par.
On the 12th and 14th, he dropped a shot each and then as holes were running out, he birdied the 15th and 16th to come to par again and that's where he stayed.
He had 26 putts and through the week shot an average of 26.5 putts per round. Atwal has made the cut in only five of the 11 starts this year and this latest 17th place as the third top-25 finish of the year got him $76,850 and pushed his earning this year to $359,486. Besides, it took his position in money list up from 81st to 69th.
Baddeley won $954,000 and perhaps more importantly gained a tour exemption through 2008.