Atwal stutters in the end, finishes tied 54th

Wichita, Kansas, Aug 6 (UNI) Struggling to earn a full-time US PGA card, Arjun Atwal did himself no good when he played a poor two-over 73 final round to end tied 54th at the Nationwide Tour's Wichita Open here.

Overnight tied 36th, Atwal started ominously with a bogey on the opening hole. He hit two birdies but dropped another stroke on the eight hole to make the turn at level-par. Just when he began to look good with a birdie the 13th hole, Atwal shot himself in the foot with a triple bogey on the next.

The Orlando-based Kolkatan never recovered from there and signed off with a poor 73.

Atwal totalled five-under 279 in four rounds to finish 14 strokes behind the winner Brad Elder of the US, who fired a superb last-round 65 to emerge victorious by four strokes.

Atwal colleted 1,575 dollars from his effort here and took money total on Nationwide Tour to 85,974 dollars. He's currenly 46th on the money list and needs to break into top 25 to earn a full-time US PGA card.

UNI