Atwal tied 10th, Chopra tied 22nd after round 1 of Chrysler Classic

North Carolina, Oct 6 (UNI) A sizzling five-under 67, studded with an eagle on the second hole, saw Arjun Atwal at the tied 10th position while an euqally impressive four-under 68 gave Indian-born Swede Daniel Chopra a share of the 22nd spot after the opening round of the five million dollar Chrysler Classic of Greensboro here.

The Orlando-based Indian was in good form after a largely unimpressive season so far and sank in six birdies -- apart from the eagle -- against three bogeys to be three shots adrift of leaders Brent Geiberger, John Rollins and Nick Watney.

The American trio was tied for the three-way lead followed a shot behind by Australian John Senden and Americans Robert Gamez, Tag Ridings, Mike Sposa, James Driscoll and Charley Hoffman in the crowded leaderboard.

Atwal was off to a fine start with a second hole eagle followed by a birdie on the third. The Indian gained two more shots on the seventh and ninth to complete a blemish-free front nine and make the turn at five-under.

His backward journey, however, was not as smooth and he started by dropping a bogey on the 10th but compensated for the lapse with successive birdies on the 14th and 15th. The last three holes turned out to be quite eventful for Atwal and a bogey-birdie-bogey finish saw him miss a chance to finish among the top five at the Forest Oaks Country Club.

Meanwhile, Chopra also had a good day as he also got off the blocks with an eagle on the second. The Swede sank in a birdie on the eighth before finishing his flawless first nine at three-under.

Chopra continued the good show after making the turn and fired birdies on the 11th and 13th before a dropped shot on the 17th cost him a top-10 finish.

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