Atwal calm in first try

Coming off a morning practice round Wednesday, it was as if Arjun Atwal didn't have an entire country following his every move.

Without dwelling on it, Atwal carries the weight of being the first Indian-born player to win on the PGA Tour, the second player from his country in the Masters Tournament and the reason many children in India have decided to pick up a golf club.

Considering that, Atwal shrugs. To him, it's just about golf.

"I don't feel it as pressure," he said. "I feel it as a privilege. I guess I am lucky I'm out here."

Atwal, 38, is making his Masters debut after earning an exemption to the tournament with his win at the 2010 Wyndham Championship. Professionally, he has handled the Asian and European Tours with nine international victories while overcoming a 2007 car crash that could have ended his career.

His brother, Govind, couldn't help but notice his younger brother's calm before the storm of today's opening round. The family doesn't share his composure, Govind said.

"It's going to be big for us, for our country," he said. "Everyone is going to be watching this. All the papers in India are watching step by step. You walk through any store or any city in India, and they're talking about him."

Atwal has prepared for the Masters with regular practice sessions with his Orlando, Fla., neighbor, four-time Masters champion Tiger Woods. The two played a practice round Wednesday with 1998 Masters winner Mark O'Meara, and Atwal talked and laughed with his friend throughout the round.

Other than Woods' tips about his swing and maneuvering around the course, the conversation was private, Atwal said.

"We were just having fun out there."

Off the course, Atwal spent his evenings relaxing with his wife and two sons and his family, who flew in from India. The group enjoyed a private chef Atwal pulled from a restaurant in Orlando to cook for the family in their Augusta rental house, Govind said.

Thanks to a tip from an Indian doctor Govind met on the course Monday, the family also got a taste of Augusta's Indian cuisine when they dined at Taj of India on Furys Ferry Road.

Part of Atwal's support system that traveled from India this week is childhood friend Gaurav Ghosh, who said he played with Atwal as a teenager at The Royal Calcutta Golf Club.

That was where Atwal learned to play after watching taped golf tournaments on TV in Calcutta.

"Just from the first day when I was 14 I got hooked," Atwal said.

As he gained recognition as a player, he became an idol for young people in his country, his brother said.

That faith in Atwal was tested in 2007 when he was the subject of an investigation into a fatality suspected of being tied to street racing. Witnesses told police they saw Atwal and another driver topping 100 mph outside Orlando when the other driver lost control of his car and crashed. He died from his injuries.

It took almost a year before Atwal was cleared in the investigation. The accident took a toll personally and professionally, but Atwal has been able to put that behind him, said Vijay Amritraj, a sports broadcaster and former world top-20 tennis player from India.

"People talk about Tiger Woods' personal issues over the last year or so. It takes 12-18 months, 24 months to get it out of your head more than anything else," Amritraj said.

"You might go out there and play the sport because it becomes a job and because you sort of do it mechanically as opposed to being passionately and emotionally involved in that sport. I think it takes time, it heals everything, and hopefully both of them have gotten over it."

Amritraj said sports fans in India were saddened about the incident and wondered how it would affect Atwal's career.

"Questions are asked, of course, left and right, but then you really don't have all the answers. But the most important thing is, 'Hey, you know what, this guy is a great athlete and I hope he can come back and play the way he's capable of playing.' "

On Atwal's chances of winning this week, Amritraj, who captained India's Davis Cup team much of the late 1970s and '80s, said: "Well, in cricket we won the World Cup just last week, and we were just telling him that it would be nice to do a twofer, if we can get a green jacket coming home as well."

Atwal said he won't be putting any pressure on himself to win.

"Being my first time here, I want to play a good game and see what the golf course gives me," he said.

Staff writer Mike Wynn contributed to this story.

Reach Tracey McManus at (706) 823-3424 ortracey.mcmanus@augustachronicle.com.