Atwal loses PGA card, Jeev slips after Rd3 of Canadian Open

Ontario: Arjun Atwal lost his PGA Tour card after failing to make the final round due to the made-cut-but-did-not-finish rule, while Jeev Milkha Singh

slipped three rungs to tied 56th with a one-under 69 in the third round of the RBC Canadian Open golf tournament here. Atwal slotted four birdies against five birdies for a card of one-over 71 to sign off with a total of 210 after falling victim of a 2008 PGA Tour rule designed to keep field sizes manageable. Regular PGA events, which start with fields of 132, 144 or 156 players, have had a 36-hole cut with the top 70 players and ties advancing to the final two rounds. But in an effort to keep field sizes smaller, the PGA Tour Policy Board enacted a new rule. The top 70 and ties still remain in fray but if the cut exceeds 78 players, only the number nearest to 70 continues in the tournament. Atwal was one of five players that missed the second cut here. Atwal has been playing on the Tour on a Major Medical Extension (Q School/Nationwide Tour category) and this was his last start based on it. He will receive a cheque that counts as official earnings, but it falls short of the amount he needed to be elevated to conditional status for the rest of the season. As a result, Atwal has lost his Tour card and has no status on the PGA Tour. Jeev, on the other hand, managed three birdies against a couple of bogeys. After two bogeys and a birdie left him one-over at the turn, Jeev made amends by playing out a flawless back-nine studded with birdies on the 10th and 13th. Jeev is now three-under 207 overall. Meanwhile, American Dean Wilson turned in a third successive 65 to total 15-under 195 for a four-stroke lead over the second-placed duo of Swede Carl Petterson (60) and Bob Estes (66). PTI