Atwal moves to tied-11th, Bhullar, Chawrasia make cut in Japan

Arjun Atwal shot his second successive two-under 69 to be tied 11th at the Panasonic Open here today.
Atwal, the only Indian to have won a title on the PGA Tour, moved five places from his overnight tied-16th to tied- 11th. At four-under 138, he is five shots behind leader American Jason Knutzon (64-69).
Apart from Atwal, the only other Indians to make the cut were Gaganjeet Bhullar (72-69) and SSP Chawrasia (71-71).
Bhullar was tied-32nd and Chawrasia was tied-46th.
Eight other Indians missed the cut -- S Chikkrangappa (70-73), Shiv Kapur (72-71), Rashid Khan (71-74), Chiragh Kumar (74-71), Shubhankar Sharma (76-70), Rahil Gangjee (75- 71), Jeev Milkha Singh (74-73) and Jyoti Randhawa (76-76).

Atwal, playing his first event since Hero Indian Open said, "The last two days have been great considering I haven't played since the Indian Open. I was a little rusty but I managed to score well. I like the fact that you get to hit a variety of shots off the tee over here. It's a little bit of an old school layout and I like that. The greens are tricky and I like the whole combination.

"I worked a little bit on my game during the last four weeks but not that much. We will see after tomorrow. If I can shoot a really low score that can get me into the hunt tomorrow, then it will be interesting to see what happens next on Sunday."

Despite not being able to match his opening 64, Knutzon's two-day total of nine-under-par 133 was still enough for him to enjoy a two-shot cushion over Thailand's Panuphol Pittayarat, Philippines' Juvic Pagunsan, Korea's Inhoi Hur and Japan's Yujiro Ohori.
Panuphol also moved into contention for his maiden Asian Tour breakthrough by compiling a 135 at the Chiba Country Club, Umesato course in Noda City, Chiba prefecture.
Although he is still grieving over the tragic loss of his girlfriend, the 24-year-old displayed no signs of it and instead showed the consistency that has led him to two top-10s this season.