Atwal, Chopra fail to make the cut at BellSouth Classic

Georgia, Apr 1 (UNI) Arjun Atwal's performance touched a new low as he failed to make the cut in the fourth consecutive event this year, carding a five-over 77 in the second round of the BellSouth Classic here.

The former Asian Tour number one was joined by Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra, who carded a one-over 73 for the second day in a row, to crash out of the 5.3 million dollar event.

Nothing went right for Atwal (150) and Chopra (146) and the two made disastrous starts to their day. While the Orlando-based Atwal double-bogeyed his second hole, Chopra began with a bogey on the first.

Atwal dropped three shots between the fifth and the ninth to round off his poor front-nine. Chopra's plight was only marginally better as he birdied his third but, after some level-par shots, rounded off his front-nine with a bogey on the ninth.

A birdie on the 13th was the only highlight of Atwal's backward journey as he bogeyed the 15th and the last hole to bow out.

Chopra had two birdies in his back-nine but undid the good work by dropping two shots after that and failed to make the cut in the second consecutive USPGA event.

Meanwhile, defender Phil Mickelson stretched his lead at the top with a blemishfree seven-under 65, taking his two-day total to 16-under 128. He now holds a six-shot lead over compatriot JJ Henry (134), who overtook Australian Gavin Coles (136), with a seven-under second round score.

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