BLAINE, MINNESOTA: Arjun Atwal maintained the momentum despite a double bogey on the back nine, as he closed with a brilliant hat-trick of birdies that kept him in contention and three shots off the lead at the 3M Open.
Atwal shot his second straight 68 and is now 12-under and Tied-ninth as the crowded leaderboard promised an exciting finish.
Atwal, who was fourth after the first round and sixth after the second is now ninth after the third. But as against a six-shot deficit against the 36-hole leader, he is now only three behind the new leaders, a young pair of Matthew Wolff (62) and Collin Morikawa (64), who played golf against each other in high school, and Bryson DeChambeau (70).
Meanwhile India’s other golfer, Anirban Lahiri (75) missed the 54-hole cut as he tied 83rd. The 46-year-old Atwal, playing only his fourth event in the season and who has made only one cut, hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation during his third round.
Atwal had a clean two-under on his front nine and had four pars on second nine before hitting his tee shot into water on Par-4 14th and came out with a double.
But he fought back superbly at the finish. He birdied from nine feet on 16th and then holed a 31-footer for birdie on 17th. On the 18th, he had a brilliant first putt from 90 feet for a one-foot tap-in birdie to finish at 68.
Lahiri had a very colourful scoreboard with four birdies, three bogeys, one double and one triple for a 75 that saw him exit.
Seeking his first tour win in 31 TOUR starts, Clark shot a 64 and was tied with Hadwin (69) one shot back.
