Beginning off No. 10 tee, open-qualifier and World No. 989 Arjun Atwal authored a bogey-free, 3-under-par 34-34=68 in the second round of the 3M Open for a 36-hole total of 9-under 133, currently T4 on the leaderboard, five shy of clubhouse leader Bryson DeChambeau. UPDATE: With play completed, Atwal is T7, five short of DeChambeau.
The 46-year-old owns one TOUR win in 218 events, the 2010 Wyndham Championship as an OQer, where he led/co-led after each of the first three rounds. He’s not played a full season on the main stage since 2012 (when his exemption ran out from the Wyndham win), and prior to Corey Conners at this season’s Valero, was the last OQer to win on TOUR. The Indian, who lives in Windemere, Florida, landed 10 (of 14) fairways and 13 greens in regulation, losing 0.909 strokes off-the-tee but gaining 0.084 approaching and 1.040 around-the-green. He scribbled down three birdies at 15, 18 and 7, each from between 13 and 30 feet, registering 2.149 SG: Putting with 28 total putts, buoyed by a walk-off, 22-foot 7-inch par-saver at the ninth. This is Atwal’s third start of the season after a missed cut at the Corales 14 weeks ago, and a 70th at the Puerto Rico Open back in February, both opposite-field events.