Atwal needs solid R2 to make cut

June 27, 2014. Arjun Atwal struggled to a 73 in the opening round of the Quicken Loans National. The tournament has been in the spotlight with Tiger Woods returning to action after nearly three months of nursing his injured back. Woods was in the deep rough midway through his round, but recovered well to end the day at 3-over 74. Greg Chalmers shot into the lead with 5-under 66.

Atwal got off to a promising start when he made birdie at the 10^th. But bogeys at the 11^th and 15^th pushed him back a little. Atwal recovered when he made the turn – posting birdies at the 8^th and 7^th to get one up on the course.

But just as he was looking to make a good finish, the blue course struck at him. Arjun suffered a double bogey at the par-4 fourth and ended with another bogey at the par-4 first to end the day at two over.

Meanwhile, Woods who had also teed off from the 10^th, was suffering the rough and tumble of this elegant course. The card was a litany of bogeys – five of them (10, 11, 15, 17, 18) against a lone birdie at the 14^th – meant that it took him 39 to make the turn.

The embattled Woods was far more composed on his way home – three birdies helped Tiger offset some of the early damage. But bogeys at the third and second left him signing on a 74 with plenty left to do on Friday.

K J Choi was down a shot as he made the turn, but three birdies in four holes helped him score 69, just three off the pace. The pace was set by Chalmers – six birdies and a lone bogey at the second edging the Australian into the lead at the end of round 1.

“I put in a new driver this week. It’s going really well,” said Chalmers. “I really drove the ball the best I’ve driven it all year. That was exciting and that set up the rest of the round. I’m really pleased.”

Reporting by Anand Datla

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