CUMBERWELL Park ace Laurie Canter was among the chasing pack who cut leader Arjun Atwal’s lead to a single shot going into the third round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.

India’s Atwal started the day with a four-shot advantage after producing a course-record 62 at Heritage Golf Club on Thursday and a second round 70 took him to 10 under par.

Early starter Canter posted a round of 66 to be one of three players get within one shot of the leader.

Fresh from securing his European Tour card at Qualifying School, the 28 year old notched back-to-back birdies towards the end of his round to get within a shot of Atwal, and had a great chance to catch the 44 year old at the ninth - his last - but he just missed his birdie putt from six feet.

Canter, who is based at the Cumberwell Park club near Bradford on Avon said: “I’ve played so much golf in the wind recently, through Q School. It just feels like I’ve played a load of links golf and that kind of stuff, so I felt quite comfortable out there for a lot of it.

“If you can drive the ball half decent around here you’ll have a fair few opportunities to score and get the wedge in your hand a lot. I’m delighted with the two days really.

“Playing in the wind is something that I would have said, maybe a year ago, that I need to do better. It’s something that I’ve worked on a bit with my coach to try to give myself a few more shots going into the green.

“I felt like I had one swing. I’m trying to knock the ball down a bit more, play a few more half shots, take the spin off. Maybe today and yesterday was the start of me feeling a bit more comfortable and taking that into a tournament.”