His best finish on the PGA TOUR was 1st in 2010 at the Wyndham Championship.
height6-1
weight185
birthDateMarch 20, 1973
age40
birthPlaceAsansol, India
residenceWindermere, Florida
familyWife, Ritika; Krishen (5/14/04), Shiva (12/10/07)
educationNassau Community College (Liberal Arts)
pronunciationAR-jin AT-wall
nwTourAlumnusWeb.com Tour Graduate (2008)
trndProYear1995
qSchoolYear2003
cityPlaysFrmCalcutta; ; India
combTourMoney4,812,072
jndTourYear2007
exmtStatusConditionally Exempt: 167th on 2012 PGA TOUR Money List
intlVics(9): 1995 DCM Open [Asia]. 1997 Classic Southern India Open. 1999 Wills Indian Open [Asia]. 2000 Hero Honda Masters [Asia], Star Alliance Open [Asia]. 2002 Carlsberg Malaysian Open [Eur]. 2003 Hero Honda Masters [Asia], Caltex Singapore Masters [Eur]. 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open [Eur].
carHigh2012: Failed to make the FedExCup Playoffs for the fourth time in five years. Missed the cut in 11 of his first 13 starts but rebounded by making the cut in 10 of his last 11 starts...Recorded his first top-10 finish of the season, at The McGladrey Classic (T10), topping his previous-best finish of the year at the FedEx St. Jude Classic (T19). Rounds of 67-63 led to a one-stroke lead through two rounds in Sea Island, with the 7-under 63 the second-best round of his career. Closed with rounds of 69-71 to finish six strokes behind Tommy Gainey.
2011: Qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his career, finishing the season No. 109 in the FedExCup standings. Made the cut in a career-high 18 tournaments (29 starts)...Turned in the round of the day on a wind-swept Saturday with a 3-under 67 en route to a T8 finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, his first top 10 since the 2010 McGladrey Classic (T3) and only one of the 2011 season...With a 6-under 66, was among a group of seven players tied for the first-round lead at the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic before rounds of 72-74-73 led to a T59 finish.
2010: Career year included first PGA TOUR victory, becoming the first native of India to win on TOUR, capturing the Wyndham Championship playing as a Monday qualifier...Started the season playing on a Minor Medical Exemption out of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament/Web.com Tour category, giving him eight events to earn $586,007 to gain status for the remainder of the season...Finished T7 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, his first top-10 on TOUR since the 2006 season...Eighth start was the RBC Canadian Open, where he failed to earn the needed balance...As a Monday qualifier, shot 20-under-par 260 (61-67-65-67) to record his first TOUR win, at the Wyndham Championship, at age 37 years, 5 months, 2 days. Converted a 7-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to edge David Toms by one stroke. Opened with a first-round, 9-under 61 to tie the course record and move into sole possession of the lead. Also held the third-round lead and a share of the second-round lead. He became the first Monday Qualifier to win on TOUR since Fred Wadsworth at the 1986 Southern Open. As a non-member, he was not eligible to receive FedExCup points at the Wyndham Championship. The win gave him victories on the PGA TOUR, European Tour, Asian Tour and Web.com Tour...Two starts after his win in Greensboro, closed with rounds of 65-67-66 to finish T3 at the inaugural McGladrey Classic, finishing just two strokes behind champion Heath Slocum. 2009: Missed more than four months of the season with a shoulder injury and received a Medical Extension for 2010 out of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament/Web.com Tour category...Made the cut in just four of 12 starts and failed to record a top-25 finish. 2008: Finished among the 25 graduates from the Web.com Tour, at No. 17 on the money list. Made the cut in 17 of 23 starts, with 11 top-25 and five top-10 finishes...Finished T2 in the season-opening Panama Movistar Championship after holding the third-round lead by one stroke...Won for the first time in America when he defeated Webb Simpson at the Chattanooga Classic with a birdie at the first playoff hole. Shot 24-under for the week, including a second-round 60 (12-under), the low round on Tour in 2008...Earned his third European Tour victory at the Maybank Malaysian Open in early March. Fired an 8-under 64 in the final round to erase a seven-stroke deficit and force a playoff with defending champion Peter Hedblom. Won with par on the second extra hole when Hedblom three-putted. 2007: Finished the Web.com Tour season with 11 made cuts in 17 starts and No. 60 on the money list, with $101,824.
2006: Fell out of the top 125 on the PGA TOUR money list, posting one top-10 in 33 starts...Lone top-10 was a T4 at the Buick Invitational. Recorded three eagles over a five-hole stretch on his first nine (Nos. 14, 16 and 18) during the second round. Missed a 7-foot putt for birdie on the 72nd hole that would have put him in a playoff with eventual winner Tiger Woods, Jose Maria Olazabal and Nathan Green.
2005: Finished No. 82 on the money list in second full season on TOUR. Led TOUR in Putting Average (1.710). Missed just one cut in 17 starts...Earned first top-10 of the season in his third start, which he barely made. Began the week of the BellSouth Classic in Bali, Indonesia, on his honeymoon and as the 23rd alternate for the tournament. Parents warned him of impending storms, so he and his wife, Ritika, headed to their U.S. residence. First round of the weather-shortened, 54-hole tournament did not begin until Saturday due to inclement weather. Was informed Thursday morning that he was second alternate, and when Chris DiMarco and Steve Flesch withdrew Friday he was next in the field. Opened with a 77 but came back with rounds of 67-64 to make his way into a five-way playoff with winner Phil Mickelson, Rich Beem, Brandt Jobe and Jose Maria Olazabal. Eliminated on first extra hole after second shot found the water on the 18th hole and could not get up and down for par. His T2 finish was the best of his career.
2004: First native of India to join the PGA TOUR after T7 finish at PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. In rookie campaign, missed 14 cuts in 15 starts in the middle of the season but ended strong by playing on the weekend eight times in last 10 appearances, including his first career top-10, a solo sixth at the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, aided by a final-round 66.
2003: In February, claimed a commanding four-shot victory at the Carlsberg Malaysian Open for his second triumph on the European Tour. Held off Retief Goosen to win. Became the first player on the Asian PGA to surpass $1 million in career earnings after winning the Hero Honda Masters in India.
2002: Became the first Indian, and only the fourth Asian, to win on the European Tour when he recorded a five-stroke victory in the Caltex Singapore Masters.
personalLists Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as heroes in golf...Started playing golf at Royal Calcutta after being encouraged to take up the game by his father, Bindi, at age 14. Went to high school in America to study liberal arts for two years.
ntlTeamsWorld Cup (1), 2005.
jndTourYear2004
exmtStatusPast Champion
intlVics(9): 1995 DCM Open [Asia]. 1997 Classic Southern India Open. 1999 Wills Indian Open [Asia]. 2000 Hero Honda Masters [Asia], Star Alliance Open [Asia]. 2002 Carlsberg Malaysian Open [Eur]. 2003 Hero Honda Masters [Asia], Caltex Singapore Masters [Eur]. 2008 Maybank Malaysian Open [Eur].
carHigh2012: Failed to make the FedExCup Playoffs for the fourth time in five years. Missed the cut in 11 of his first 13 starts but rebounded by making the cut in 10 of his last 11 starts...Recorded his first top-10 finish of the season, at The McGladrey Classic (T10), topping his previous-best finish of the year at the FedEx St. Jude Classic (T19). Rounds of 67-63 led to a one-stroke lead through two rounds in Sea Island, with the 7-under 63 the second-best round of his career. Closed with rounds of 69-71 to finish six strokes behind Tommy Gainey. 2011: Qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in his career, finishing the season No. 109 in the FedExCup standings. Made the cut in a career-high 18 tournaments (29 starts)...Turned in the round of the day on a wind-swept Saturday with a 3-under 67 en route to a T8 finish at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, his first top 10 since the 2010 McGladrey Classic (T3) and only one of the 2011 season...With a 6-under 66, was among a group of seven players tied for the first-round lead at the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic before rounds of 72-74-73 led to a T59 finish. 2010: Career year included first PGA TOUR victory, becoming the first native of India to win on TOUR, capturing the Wyndham Championship playing as a Monday qualifier...Started the season playing on a Minor Medical Exemption out of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament/Web.com Tour category, giving him eight events to earn $586,007 to gain status for the remainder of the season...Finished T7 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, his first top-10 on TOUR since the 2006 season...Eighth start was the RBC Canadian Open, where he failed to earn the needed balance...As a Monday qualifier, shot 20-under-par 260 (61-67-65-67) to record his first TOUR win, at the Wyndham Championship, at age 37 years, 5 months, 2 days. Converted a 7-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to edge David Toms by one stroke. Opened with a first-round, 9-under 61 to tie the course record and move into sole possession of the lead. Also held the third-round lead and a share of the second-round lead. He became the first Monday Qualifier to win on TOUR since Fred Wadsworth at the 1986 Southern Open. As a non-member, he was not eligible to receive FedExCup points at the Wyndham Championship. The win gave him victories on the PGA TOUR, European Tour, Asian Tour and Web.com Tour...Two starts after his win in Greensboro, closed with rounds of 65-67-66 to finish T3 at the inaugural McGladrey Classic, finishing just two strokes behind champion Heath Slocum. 2009: Missed more than four months of the season with a shoulder injury and received a Medical Extension for 2010 out of the PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament/Web.com Tour category...Made the cut in just four of 12 starts and failed to record a top-25 finish. 2008: Finished among the 25 graduates from the Web.com Tour, at No. 17 on the money list. Made the cut in 17 of 23 starts, with 11 top-25 and five top-10 finishes...Finished T2 in the season-opening Panama Movistar Championship after holding the third-round lead by one stroke...Won for the first time in America when he defeated Webb Simpson at the Chattanooga Classic with a birdie at the first playoff hole. Shot 24-under for the week, including a second-round 60 (12-under), the low round on Tour in 2008...Earned his third European Tour victory at the Maybank Malaysian Open in early March. Fired an 8-under 64 in the final round to erase a seven-stroke deficit and force a playoff with defending champion Peter Hedblom. Won with par on the second extra hole when Hedblom three-putted. 2007: Finished the Web.com Tour season with 11 made cuts in 17 starts and No. 60 on the money list, with $101,824. 2006: Fell out of the top 125 on the PGA TOUR money list, posting one top-10 in 33 starts...Lone top-10 was a T4 at the Buick Invitational. Recorded three eagles over a five-hole stretch on his first nine (Nos. 14, 16 and 18) during the second round. Missed a 7-foot putt for birdie on the 72nd hole that would have put him in a playoff with eventual winner Tiger Woods, Jose Maria Olazabal and Nathan Green. 2005: Finished No. 82 on the money list in second full season on TOUR. Led TOUR in Putting Average (1.710). Missed just one cut in 17 starts...Earned first top-10 of the season in his third start, which he barely made. Began the week of the BellSouth Classic in Bali, Indonesia, on his honeymoon and as the 23rd alternate for the tournament. Parents warned him of impending storms, so he and his wife, Ritika, headed to their U.S. residence. First round of the weather-shortened, 54-hole tournament did not begin until Saturday due to inclement weather. Was informed Thursday morning that he was second alternate, and when Chris DiMarco and Steve Flesch withdrew Friday he was next in the field. Opened with a 77 but came back with rounds of 67-64 to make his way into a five-way playoff with winner Phil Mickelson, Rich Beem, Brandt Jobe and Jose Maria Olazabal. Eliminated on first extra hole after second shot found the water on the 18th hole and could not get up and down for par. His T2 finish was the best of his career. 2004: First native of India to join the PGA TOUR after T7 finish at PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament. In rookie campaign, missed 14 cuts in 15 starts in the middle of the season but ended strong by playing on the weekend eight times in last 10 appearances, including his first career top-10, a solo sixth at the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, aided by a final-round 66. 2003: In February, claimed a commanding four-shot victory at the Carlsberg Malaysian Open for his second triumph on the European Tour. Held off Retief Goosen to win. Became the first player on the Asian PGA to surpass $1 million in career earnings after winning the Hero Honda Masters in India...Became the first Indian, and only the fourth Asian, to win on the European Tour when he recorded a five-stroke victory in the 2002 Caltex Singapore Masters.
personalLists Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as heroes in golf...Started playing golf at Royal Calcutta after being encouraged to take up the game by his father, Bindi, at age 14. Went to high school in America to study liberal arts for two years.
ntlTeamsWorld Cup (1), 2005.