Overnight leader Arjun Atwal's hopes of ending his long title drought went up in smoke and the Indian finished tied second after a nightmarish final round in the Panama Movistar Championship on the Nationwide Tour in Panama City.
The former PGA Tour regular began with a bang, picking up a shot on the opening hole but nothing went right after that and he ended up turning in his worst card of the week, a four-over 74, to aggregate two-under 278.
Atwal's final round blues allowed Scott Dunlap to come from behind and capture his second Nationwide Tour title from a packed leaderboard.
Jeff Klauk carded 69 in the final round to share the second spot with Atwal.
The Orlando-based Indian stuttered on a treacherous front nine with the fifth hole marking the beginning of a bogey hat-trick and he dropped one more shot on the ninth to take the turn at three-over.
Atwal could not make another birdie the rest of the way and another dropped shot on the 15th hole scuttled his hopes of forcing a play-off.
Despite the disappointment of missing the title by a whisker, Atwal can take heart from his impressive showing in the first Nationwide Tour event of the year.
It was a brilliant start for someone who barely managed to retain his Nationwide Tour card last year and went through a prolonged slump in form.
Atwal would be hoping to be consistent in order to finish in the top league of the Nationwide Tour that would earn him his PGA Tour card next year.
