Atwal climbs to tied 30th; Chopra impresses

Pebble Beach, Ca., Feb 11 (UNI) Arjun Atwal carded a vastly improved one-under 71 in the third round to climb up to tied 30th after the penultimate round in the 5.5 million dollar Pebble Beach National Pro-Am event here.

The Indian made steady progress after languishing on tied 40th spot at the end of round two but failed to mount a serious challenge to leaderboard toppers Phil Mickelson and Kevin Sutherland of the US.

Atwal swung his club well on the front nine to fire in three birdies against a lone bogey but spoilt the good work by dropping two shots at the back nine against a single birdie on the 15th hole.

The former Asian number, who shared the fourth place after the first round, ended his chances of a creditable finish yesterday with a shocking three-over 75 score but the third round performance has taken his total to three-under 213.

This is Atwal's first appearance of the season following a recent spell out due to a back injury.

In contrast, Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra enjoyed a flawless round, sinking in four birdies to end on tied 10th spot and stay in contention of a top-five finish with a total tally of seven-under 209.

Meanwhile, Mickelson (70) and Sutherland (67) lead the event with 14-under 202.

UNI