Atwal placed seventh

Arjun Atwal shot four birdies on either side of the turn and finished with an opening round of seven-under 65 to be placed seventh after the first day of the US $3 million B C Open golf tournament in Endicott, New York.

Atwal had a bogey start on the first at the En-Joie Golf Course but after that did not make a single mistake, making eight birdies in all.

Rookie Matt Hendrix, in only his fourth start on the PGA Tour, started with a double bogey, but then set the course ablaze with a nine-under 63 that had two eagles on the front nine.

He was tied for the top place with Glen Day, who also had a nine-under 63.

Mike Springer, Jason Bohn, Ben Crane and Brenden Pappas were a stroke behind in tied third, while Atwal, Mathias Gronberg, Omar Uresti, Mark Wilson and Chris Smith were tied for seventh, another shot back.

Atwal started with a bogey on the par-4, but after steadying himself with two pars, he went on a birdie spree with three in a row on fourth, fifth and sixth.

Then he added another on eighth to be three-under at the turn. On the back nine, he again birdied the 12th, 13th, 16th and 18th to finish at seven-under 65 for the day.

Atwal drove well average 316 yards and maintained 86 per accuracy in terms of finding the fairways. He missed just three Greens in regulation and needed 25 putts for the round.

With some of the big names of PGA Tour away at British Open, this is a great chance for Atwal to run up a good finish and even make a bid for a win, as he lies just two off the lead.

Hendrix's first drive went close to a tree and then he put his next shot into water and ended with a double bogey.

On the second his tee shot again hit a tree, but then his second was just three feet from the pin and he got a birdie in.

Then he chipped from 25 feet for an eagle on third and then slotted 25 footer for another eagle on either. A birdie on ninth suddenly saw him turn in six-under.

The short and narrow En-Joie Golf Club course was flooded in April and opened for the first time this year for the pro-am on Monday.