Arjun Atwal fired a fine five-under 66 to put himself in contention on the second day of the John Deere Classic golf here.
Atwal, the only Indian to have tasted success on the PGA Tour, is now nine-under and tied for eighth, 11 places up from overnight 19th.
Atwal was consistent and had just one bogey on the third and six birdies in near-perfect conditions for golf.
He birdied second and fourth, 10th and 11th and then 15th and 17th and missed a couple of other birdie putts for a 66.
Chez Reavie zoomed up the leaderboard adding a nine-under 62 to his first round 66 and was the clubhouse leader at 14-under, two ahead of Steve Marino (66).
“I played solid today. You know, just could have made a few more putts, but there’s no - I have no regrets. I made only one bogey today, so it was solid. Nothing stood out. Just everything was pretty good. Everything was solid. Didn’t really miss too many greens, gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities and took advantage of a few,” said Atwal.
On the conditions, he added, “Yeah, it’s perfect. There was no wind. Greens are receptive. They’re rolling perfect.
Fairways are perfect. It was sunny out, so it’s playing great.”
Talking of the gameplan for the weekend, he added. “Hopefully Reavie doesn’t go too low. As of right now he’s at 14-under and obviously it’s going to be the same game plan, just try and shoot lights out on the weekend. (In second round) I mean every hole, I was pretty much pin high, you know, and had a few looks at it. You just kept plugging along.”
He admitted that having earlier played in the course helped.
“I think I’ve played here like three or four times. Yeah, definitely. You know, you get to learn the breaks on the greens. You know where not to miss it, you know, and certain pin positions, and definitely help.”
Reavie had an eagle on the second and that was followed by two birdies. He had nine birdies in all and two bogeys. He was two shots ahead of Steve Marino, whose 66 included an eagle on the second, a bogey on the fifth and four birdies to move to 12 under par.
Jhonattan Vegas moved up to third after a 64 as he looks for his second Tour win. The Venezuelan is 10-under after improving on his first-round 68.
