Atwal soars

Detroit (US), July 5

Indian golfer Arjun Atwal put on a master class as he fired a 6-under 66 in the third round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic to end the day at tied-19th here on Saturday. At one stage he went from the cut-line to shared-lead for a very brief period. When he finished, Atwal was tied-4th, but as the day progressed, other players took advantage of a low-scoring day to push Atwal down to tied-19th. Atwal (68-69-66) was 11-under after 54 holes, eight shots behind the leader, Matthew Wolff.

“A pity it had to finish like that with a three-putt, just like the start. That’s three three-putts this week and two in a single day,” said Atwal, who made three-putts on the first and 18th holes.

The 47-year-old started by missing a five-footer for par. After that he had six birdies and a brilliant eagle on the seventh hole. After a 312-yard drive, he hit a great second shot to inside 10 feet of the hole. After the second day, Atwal had said that he found “something” in his hitting. It worked and he missed just three fairways and found 16 of the 18 greens in regulation.

“A couple of weeks ago, I hurt myself in the ribs, while doing weights. I did play nine holes with friends but I stopped because I did not feel great. So the past two weeks before coming here I barely lifted a club,” said Atwal.

“I hit well but didn’t putt too well, though I holed some big ones. That putt on the 18 from 60 feet had so many ups and downs and twists. I hit it well but was 10-12 feet short. The second putt stopped at the top of the lip. That hurt,” he added.

After a bogey start, Atwal hit his approach on third to 13 feet for a birdie. He was on fire from the sixth, hitting his approach to inside 10 feet for a birdie, followed by the eagle and then a 12-foot birdie on the eighth.

Wolff lets ice cream truck steer him to lead

Wolff said he got a sense of calm from the ice cream truck that circled Detroit Golf Club on Saturday as he capped a solid round with a superb finish to grab a three-shot lead. Wolff, who is bidding for his second PGA Tour win, made an eagle and three birdies over a sizzling six-hole stretch on the back-nine en route to an 8-under 64 that brought him to 19-under.

The 21-year-old American said it felt like he made a birdie every time he heard the ice cream truck make its way around a course that was closed to spectators in a bid to stem the spread of Covid-19.

“I heard the ice cream truck and I’m like, I have a good feeling about this,” Wolff said about the 35-foot birdie putt he made at the par-3 fifth.

“Just had that little like ice cream truck song in my head and I think that helped me just not think about the speed or the line or anything, just keep my head free,” added Wolff, whose 54-hole total of 197 is a career low.

World No. 10 Bryson DeChambeau (67) and career journeyman Ryan Armour (67) were in a share of second place at 16-under while second-round co-leader Chris Kirk (70) was among a group of four golfers a further two shots adrift.

Overnight co-leader Webb Simpson (71) was unable to keep pace with the flurry of low scores, leaving the world No. 6 plenty of work to do in his bid to win two consecutive starts. — Agencies