By IANS,
Knoxville (US) : India’s Arjun Atwal slipped in the second round as he carded a two-under 70 and fell from tied first to sixth at the midway stage of the Knoxville Open golf in the Nationwide Tour.
D.J. Brigman took advantage of perfect conditions to shoot eight-under 64 to take the lead. Brigman finished the day at 13-under-par 131.
Overnight co-leaders Atwal and Chris Kirk both shot 70 and fell back into a tie for sixth.
Atwal sank two birdies towards the close to strengthen his position after missing out far too many short putts earlier on. Two bogeys and one birdie on the front nine saw him turn in one-over but he came back strongly to birdie the 11th and 13th, but again dropped a birdie on 14th, but made up quickly with birdies on 15th and 17th.
Atwal, who had a bogey-free first round, dropped three bogeys in all in second round and needed 29 putts for the round.
Atwal is currently 18th on the Money List for Nationwide Tour and needs to stay inside top-25 to earn a full card for Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) Tour next year.
Brigman, who missed the cut last week at US Open, surged to the lead with a bogey-free round, giving him a two-shot cushion over first-round co-leader Jarrod Lyle of Australia, who shot a 5-under 67 for an 11-under 133 total. Chris Smith, with a pair of 67s, is alone in third at 10 under.