Up, up and...thud! Atwal shines before fading out

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Apr 16 (UNI) Arjun Atwal sparkled with a brilliant front nine before undoing himself with a disastrous show on his way back as he returned a level-par 71 card to slip four places down to tied 20th in the pen-ultimate round of the 5.2 million-dollar Heritage Classic here.

With five under 208 in aggregate, Atwal is nine shots shy of the leaders, Jim Furyk of the US and Aaron Baddeley of Australia, both of who are at 14 under 199.

As if charged up after making the cut, the Orlando-based Kolkata pro started the day with a bang hitting back to back birdies on the first two holes.

Atwal showed the glimpes of his class, which has won admirers in Tiger Woods and Vijay Sigh, when he hit a stupendous eagle on the fifth hole and followed it up with a birdie on the next.

Just when it looked like that the 32-year-old was gunning for the top, his form slumped.

He hit a bogey on the ninth hole and started back journey ominously by dropping two shots on the next three holes. He followed it up with some par shots and when a two under 71 finish was well in sight, he dropped a double bogey to literally even it out in the end.

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