Atwal stutters, Daniel Chopra tied 39th in Bay International

Miami, Mar 17 (UNI) Arjun Atwal was undone by a poor front nine and he carded a poor opening round of two-over 74 to find himself way down the leaderboard at tied 88th in the Bay Hill Invitational.

Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra was unlucky to stumble on a double bogey in his final hole and his one-under 71 placed him at tied 39th.

Chopra began with a hat-trick of birdies in his front nine and fired two more on his backward journey. But bogeys on the ninth and 10th holes pulled him back and he signed off on a disastrous note, dropping two shots in the final hole.

Atwal, on the other hand, was struggling right from the beginning. He had a horrendous start, hitting a double bogey in the opening hole and dropping a shot each on the third, eighth and 16th holes. In between, the Orlando-based Indian struck birdies on the fifth, ninth and 14th holes to salvage some pride.

Former winner and world number five Ernie Els produced a blemish-free display in near-perfect conditions to stay in hunt with his five-under-par 67, one shot behind joint leaders -- the American duo of Bart Bryant and Dean Wilson.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods, eyeing a fifth title here, struggled for his two-under 70.

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