Knoxville: Arjun Atwal survived a tough day in the greens, turning in an erratic two-under 70 in the second round to slip to the tied sixth spot in the Knoxville Open on the nation wide tour here.

Atwal, who had shot an impeccable six-under 66 in the first round, found the going tough on Friday and his second round 70 took his aggregate to eight-under 136.

The Orlando-based Indian had a disappointing start as he stumbled to bogeys on the fourth and eighth holes but a birdie on the fifth saw him make the turn one-over. On his way back, he picked up birdies on the 11th, 13th, 15th and 17th against a lone bogey at the 14th.

At the top, American D.J. Brigman (64) led the pack with an aggregate of 13-under 131, two strokes ahead of second placed Australian Jarrod Lyle (67).

Atwal is playing after a 15-day break. A decent prformance in this tournament could brighten his chances of obtaining his PGA Tour card again.