Disappointing start for Arjun Atwal in Corales Punta Cana golf

Indian golfer Arjun Atwal made a disappointing start as he shot 4-over to be in danger of missing the cut at the Corales Punta Cana Resort and Club Championship.

With Anirban Lahiri choosing to sit out the week, Atwal was the focus of the Indian fans as he teed off on the PGA Tour for the first time this year.

Things did not quite work the way he would have liked as he double-bogeyed the fifth and bogeyed 13th and 18th and had no birdies in his 76.

Daniel Chopra also had a disappointing start with a 4-over card with two birdies against six bogeys.

In a tournament that has become the first to be contested twice in the same season in the last 70 years, Stephan Jaeger made hole-in-one en route to his first PGA TOUR lead with a card of 66.

Jaeger holed the 206-yard Par-3 second hole, which was his 11th hole, for his first ace on TOUR.

Andrew Yun, attempting to become third Monday qualifier to win on TOUR in last 35 years -- the first was Arjun Atwal at Wyndham in 2010 --, was tied second with 67, the same as Joel Dahmen, who has not won in 111 starts.

While Jaeger, Yun and Dahmen battled for early honours, Hudson Swafford, who won the 2020 edition in September, is T-19 alongside two other past champions, Graeme McDowell and Brice Garnett.