Detroit (USA), July 31 (IANS) Akshay Bhatia, making a start after taking a week off after the Open, where he missed the cut, shot 2-under 68 for a modest start at the Rocket Classic. The left-handed Bhatia was lying T-48 and needed to stay steady to ensure passage into the weekend rounds.
Another Indian-origin player, Sudarshan Yellamaraju (69), was T-72 amidst a bunch of low scores, and he was around the cut line. Two other top Indian origin players, Aaron Rai and Sahith Theegala, are skipping the week.
Peter Malnati, who had a rough season and missed more cuts than he has made this season, got a big boost as he shot a career-best 9-under 61 to tie a tournament record in the first round of the Rocket Classic, giving him a two-shot lead.
Rickie Fowler and Ryan Gerard shot 63s, putting them two shots back and one stroke ahead of Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Fishburn.
Bhatia, who is backed by India’s Hero, had three birdies against one sole bogey. Starting from the tenth, he picked up gains on the 14th, first, and the sixth and dropped a shot on the 16th, which was his seventh hole.
Bhatia is currently 12th on the FedEx Cup rankings and has been in good form and won the Palmer Invitational, a Signature event earlier this season.
Michael Brennan surged up the leaderboard after starting 2 over through four holes with eight straight birdies — one shy of the PGA TOUR record. He finished with a 65, putting him four strokes back with a pack of players that included Keegan Bradley.
Some of the top players in the field, though, did not get off to a good start. Cameron Young, the No. 3 player in the world, shot a 1-under 69, and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark was 1 over.
The Rocket Classic and next week’s Wyndham Championship are the last two tournaments left before the top 70 advance to the FedExCup Playoffs.
Detroit Golf Club underwent a $16 million renovation after last year’s tournament, including converting a couple of par-5 holes into par-4s and adding a lot of bunkers, in an attempt to restore Donald Ross’ vision for it more than a century ago while making it more challenging.
–IANS
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