Atwal makes fast start at Pebble Beach

Arjun Atwal is under pressure to make the most of every opportunity on the 2007 PGA Tour and the Indian got off to a fast start at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Thursday.

The 33-year-old reeled off five birdies in a row from the par-four third on the hosting Pebble Beach Golf Links before completing a five-under-par 67 in windy conditions.

That left him two strokes behind joint leaders Phil Mickelson, John Mallinger and Nick Watney in his first Tour appearance of the year.

"I like this place," Atwal told reporters after mixing six birdies with a lone bogey. "Even though people complain about the greens and the conditions, I feel comfortable here.

"I got the putter working today and that's the way to make birdies. It was fun.

"I missed a few putts here and there on the back nine but I haven't played in a while. If someone told me I was going to be five under today, I'd take it."

Atwal, who bogeyed the par-five last after pushing his tee shot into the right rough, has conditional exemption on the PGA Tour this season after falling out of the top 125 in 2006.

"I was in the same situation in '05, exactly the same category, and I played around 17 events that year," he recalled.

"I would have got into 13 but I had four top-10s so that made it 17.

"Whenever

BUSY SCHEDULE

Florida-based Atwal, who became the first Indian to win a European Tour event at the 2002 Singapore Masters, expects a fairly busy tournament schedule worldwide this year.

"I'm still fully exempt in Asia, having won the money list there," he said. "My next one here is Cancun (the Mayakoba Classic) and then I'm going to have a pretty full year."

Having suffered back problems towards the end of last year, he is wary of playing in too many events.

"In 2005, I made just under $1 million on the PGA Tour and last year I made $550,000 in 33 events, so that tells me I shouldn't be playing that much," said Atwal, whose best Tour finish was a tie for fourth at last year's Buick Invitational.

"That's how I hurt myself. I suffered a bulging disc in my last tournament of the year in Tampa. It's still bad now, but I can play.

"I didn't know what to expect coming into this tournament. I've been practising at home in Orlando for the last month, so it's been slow.

"Today was a good start, though, and I'm looking forward to the year."