Arjun Atwal lies tied-18th at US Senior Open

Colorado Springs (USA), Jun 27 (PTI) Arjun Atwal shot a solid even par round of 70 on the first day of the US Senior Open championship and was tied-18th, three shots behind the leaders Mark Hensby and Padraig Harrington.

The US-based Indian had two birdies and bogeys each after starting from the first with eight straight pars.

The even par round was impressive for Atwal considering only 17 players broke par on the day with the Indian competing in his first seniors event of the year, coming through a qualifier.

Atwal birdied the ninth and the tenth but gave back those shots on the 12th and the 18th.

The joint leader Harrington had four birdies in the eight holes and dropped his only shot on the 15th in his opening round. Harrington was tied atop the leaderboard with Hensby at 3-under 67 at the rather tough Broadmoor.

Hensby had an action-packed round with nine birdies and six bogeys, two of which came on the last two holes. He made seven birdies on the front nine to get to 6 under.

Harrington, winner of the 2022 edition, made all four of his birdies on the comparatively easier front nine and was leading by one when he bogeyed the par-4 15th. PTI COR DDV