Indian golfer, Arjun Atwal has wasted his early gain in the third round of the ongoing 3M Open in Englnd.
The veteran found himself to be tied 62nd after registering a mediocre even-par 71 score. Atwal had gotten into top gear with two chip-in birdies needed at the start of the third round, but he was unable to maintain the flow.
Atwal started the third round with three birdies in his first six holes on the back side of the course. However, he was only able to get 71 score by giving away those gains on 18th, first and third. Without any more birdies to slip, Atwal slumped from -51 to T-62 on Saturday.
The final round will therefore be played between Michael Thompson and Richy Werenski, who played together in the third round. The duo shot 68 each to qualify for the final round together as they are tied at 15-under at the TPC Twin Cities.
Atwal finished even for the day and two-under for the tournament after hitting 11 of the 18 greens in regulation.
Atwal, who started from the 10th hit a 300 yard drive on the 593-yard par-5 12th. He later chipped to two feet, which he rolled for one-putt birdie.
Unfortunately, on his first shot on the 228-yard par-3 fourth, he missed the green, but chipped in from 13 yards for a birdie to get to two-under for the round.
After driving to the left rough on the 451-yard par-4 15th hole, Atwal chipped in his third to get to three-under for the round.
The birdies dried up thereafter as he went into water and ended with a bogey in the 18th and on the 416-yard par-4 first. He further missed his par putt from 5 feet to finish with a 3-putt bogey.
On the 501-yard par-4 third, he got a third bogey despite a 306 yard drive and later chipped his third shot to nine feet. This is from where he two-putted for a third bogey.
Werenski, who fell three shots behind Thompson at one stage, birdied three of the last four holes on Saturday to erase a four-stroke deficit and catch up with Thompson for a share of the lead.
Thompson, four-under through 12 including a hat-trick from fifth to seventh, dropped a shot on 17th for his 68.
Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed
