Atwal rises to tied 11th

GLENVIEW (USA): A flawless back-nine -- studded with four birdies -- helped Arjun Atwal get over a front nine slump and the Indian turned in a three-under 69 in the penultimate round to rise to the tied 11th spot in the Nationwide Tour's Bank of America Open here.

With a three-round total of eight-under 208, Atwal is four strokes behind the leading trio of Australia's David McKenzie (67) and American duo of Skip Kendall (71) and Kris Blanks (69) in the USD 750,000 event.

The Orlando-based Indian opened with a first-hole birdie and picked up another stroke on the fifth before hitting a rough patch and stumbling to a hat-trick of bogeys from the sixth to eighth to make the turn one-over.

However, he got his act together in the other nine and started his backward journey with a birdie on the 10th.

He then picked up three shots between 14th and 17th to make amends for the front nine stumble and end the day on a high at The Glen Club.