Atwal enters final stage of PGA Tour, Lahiri fails
Arjun Atwal crossed the first hurdle and moved to the final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School as he finished in the second stage qualifiers at the Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville.
Atwal, who had four birdies in his first eight holes of the final round could even afford the luxury of a double bogey and a bogey on 10th and 11th in a card of one-under 71 and cruise through in tied seventh place.
However, another Indian, Anirban Lahiri tripped and missed out as his final round of 75 with four bogeys, one double bogey and just three birdies saw him finish at two-under 286 and in tied 44th place.
Daniel Chopra qualified for the final stage in a spectacular manner.
Lying at seven-under after 15 holes and just outside the top-19 and ties, which moved ahead, Chopra birdied the last three holes for a card of 66 to move to 10-under and tied 10th place and qualify comfortably.
Robert Karlsson, a 11-time winner on European Tour, topped the qualifier at 18-under.
Atwal, starting the final day in third place, birdied the first, fifth, seventh and eighth before double bogeying 10th and bogeying 11th. He steadied himself with pars from 12th to 18th.
Chopra teeing off on the day at four-under and in tied 30th place, fell further with a bogey on first. But he went on a overdrive fifth, which he birdied and then added more birdies on eighth, ninth, 11th and 12th, at which stage he was eighth-under and on the borderline.
A bogey on 14th made it tougher for him before he answered the challenge with a hat-trick of birdies and a berth into the final Stage.
Bhavik Patel, a 22-year-old American of Indian origin, also qualified from another venue, as he finished second behind Korea’s Si Kim (70-61-67) at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta, California.
Patel, the 2011 winner of California State Amateur title, shot a final round of 66 to add to his first three of 69, 67 and 68 and was second at 19-under. Kim (70-61-67-71) topped the qualifier.
Some of the big names missing out included two-time US Open champion, Lee Janzen, and two-time PGA Tour winner, Frank Lickliter.
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