Atwal fumbles in front nine, tied 82nd after 1st round in Texas Open

Houston, Sep 22 (UNI) Dropping four shots over five holes in an erratic front nine pulled Arjun Atwal back and the Orlando-based Indian finished tied 82nd after an opening round of one-over 71 in the 4,000,000 dollar Texas Open.

Germany's Alex Cejka and Briton Justin Rose share the lead after returning six-under 64s.

Cejka had an error-free afternoon at San Antonio's LaCantera Golf Club, firing six birdies, while Rose mixed eight birdies with a pair of bogeys in his round.

Playing his back nine first, Atwal parred the first hole and birdied the second before running into disaster.

He bogeyed the next two holes and just when he seemed to have arrested the slide by parring the 14th and 15th holes, the lanky Indian stumbled to a double bogey on the par-four 16th. Picking up a shot on the 18th was hardly a solace for Atwal who completed his halfway journey at two-over.

Atwal kept things under control on his way back and birdied the second and eighth holes, though dropping another shot in between on the sixth, to finish the day at one-over.

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