Atwal finishes 16th at Siouxland Open

Arjun Atwal returned a final round card of one-under 71 and tied for the 16th spot at the $ 425,000 Siouxland Open, part of the Buy.com Tour, the second biggest Tour in the United States.

According to reports, Atwal’s tournament tally stood at eight-under 280, which earned him a prize cheque of $ 5,769.37. The tournament was held at the par-72, Dakota Dunes Country Club, South Dakota.

Pat Bates bagged the winner’s cheque with an aggregate of 15-under 273.

Bates, a winner in 1994, earned $ 76,500 for his efforts.

Matt Kuchar brought in the day’s best card, a six-under 66, thereby propelling himself to tied-second spot along with the Asian PGA Tour regular Eric Meeks. The twosome tallied 14-under 274.

Tied at fourth place, three strokes behind the winner were Jason Buha and Bo Van Pelt, while overnight second placed Joe Daly, was joint-sixth with Todd Barranger, Shane Bertsch, Deane Pappas and Conrad Ray.

Arjun Atwal, a first tee starter, had an uneventful round with a solitary birdie on the sixth, being the only highlight on his card amidst a sea of pared holes.

"I feel I could have putted better today. Missing a few crucial putts prevented me from carding a better finish," said the Davidoff Asian PGA Tour regular who returned 28 putts for his round.

His percentage of greens-in-regulations, however, improved to 68.1 per cent from his third round effort of 61.2 per cent.

"I have learnt a lot playing on the Byu.com Tour for the past three weeks," added Atwal, who has had to battle high temperatures and strong-winds all week.

Bates, who made a comeback this week, was thrilled with his win. "This is my greatest ever moment," said the golfer, whose last win came way back in 1997 at the Colarado Open.

Last April, Bates was in serious danger of never being able to play again after an unsuccessful neck surgery left him with a numb right leg and a weak left arm.

"I cried with my wife several times wondering if I could do it. I just prayed for courage today. I am very thankful and humbled to have won today," said the golfer, who couldn’t have asked for a better come-back.

SCORES (after 72 holes): 273 _ Pat Bates (67,66,70,70); 274 _ Matt Kuchar (70,67,71,66), Eric Meeks (70,67,69,68); 276 _ Jason Buha (69,71,68,68), Bo Van Pelt (73,68,67,68); 277 _ Todd Barranger (69,71,68,69), Shane Bertsch (75,67,66,69), Joe Daley (69,66,69,73), Deane Pappas (68,71,68,70); 278 _ Pat Perez (69,71,69,69), Heath Slocum (70,70,71,67); 279 _ Mark Johnson (67,71,70,71), John Rollins (71,66,71,71), Brian Kortan (72,66,69,72); 280 _ Michael Allen (70,69,71,70), Chris Couch (66,70,75,69), Matthew Ecob (69,71,70,70), Rob McKelvey (67,70,74,69), Arjun Atwal (67,70,72,71), Emlyn Aubrey (70,69,70,71), Robert Gaus (69,66,71,74), Tyler Williamson (70,67,69,74).