Atwal, who shot his best round of seven-under 65 in the previous round on Thursday, to finish third with a four-round aggregate of 14-under 274 at the Glenelefe Golf and Tennis Resort in Hainese City, Florida, one of the 13 venues for the first stage of qualifying, a release said here today.

The Calcutta pro's 274 was the second best score, a stroke behind leaders David Morland and Dennis Zinkon and he has made it to the second stage.

Ali Sher champion

NEW DELHI: Ali Sher won his seventh title at the Delhi Golf Course when he claimed the Meridien- Gokarna Pro Am tournament. Today's scores were not very high but that was because the 42 pros were clubbed with three amateurs and the rounds took a long time.

Playing consistently, Ali was the only player not to go over par on any of the four days. So the winner's cheque of Rs.83,300 which signalled the end of of year-long title drought -- he last won a title at the Hindu Open in August 1997 -- on the PGAI Tour.

Final scores: 286: Ali Sher (72, 71, 71, 72); 288: Shiv Prakash (72, 70, 72, 74); 290: Basad Ali (73, 72, 71, 74); 291: Vikramjit Singh (76, 70, 69, 76); Jyoti Randhawa (78, 70, 70, 73); Vivek Bhandari (71, 74, 73, 73); 292: Amritinder Singh (71, 75, 72, 74), SSP Chowrasia (75, 70, 75, 72; 294: Sanjay Kumar (74, 71, 77, 72), Gast Ram (75, 74, 73, 72); 295: Vijay Kumar (75, 68, 74, 78); 296: Gaurav Ghei (71, 77, 73, 75).

Luthra leads

PUNE: Amit Luthra of Delhi is leading the bunch on the penultimate day of the Blue Diamond Open Amateur Golf Championship at the Poona Club Golf Course here today. Luthra had three over par 74 with two birdies in the 7th and 14th holes while three bogies in the first, 17th and 18th holes. He aggregated a total of 218.

Leading scores: 218: Amit luthra (72, 72, 74); 221: Harmeet Kahlon (72, 75, 74); 222: PS Guleria(72, 75, 75).