Playing on a sponsor’s exemption from good friend Tiger Woods, struggling Arjun Atwal made the most of the opportunity and grabbed a share of the lead with a fine four-under 66 in the opening round of the AT&T National here.
He was joined by Americans Joe Ogilvie and Nick Watney and Australian Jason Day in a four-way tie for the lead. Woods, meanwhile lay tied 81st with a disappointing 73.
Steady start for Jyoti
Paris: Jyoti Randhawa fired a flawless four-under 67 to be the highest-placed Indian golfer at tied fifth after the opening round of the Alstom Open de France.
The Delhi golfer reeled off four birdies — two in each nine — to be four shots off the lead held by Robert-Jan Derksen. Jeev Milkha Singh was the next best-placed Indian at tied 29th after carding a one-under 70.
Jeev sank in two eagles and three birdies against two bogeys and an equal number of double bogeys in a roller-coaster round which went haywire in the closing stages. Jeev shared the 29th position with among others Shiv Kapur.
Kolkata-pro SSP Chowrasia, meanwhile, looked in danger of missing the cut after opening with a topsy-turvy 73. Chowrasia stumbled to three bogeys and a double bogey against just one birdie. —PTI