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Bhatia opens with 65, shares fifth as Min Woo Lee grabs lead at Tour Championship
Bhatia opens with 65, shares fifth as Min Woo Lee grabs lead at Tour Championship
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Atlanta , Indian-American golfer Akshay Bhatia made an impressive start to the season-ending TOUR Championship, carding a five-under 65 to share fifth place with world number one Scottie Scheffler here.
Bhatia, the lone Indian-origin player in the elite 30-man field, mixed seven birdies with two bogeys in a strong opening round on a rain-softened course. The three-time PGA TOUR winner was three shots behind Australian leader Min Woo Lee, who fired a career-low-equalling 62.
The 24-year-old Bhatia made three birdies on the front nine and four on the back nine, with a bogey on either side of the turn. His 65 matched Scheffler's score and put Bhatia among a group of players making an early move up the leaderboard.
Bhatia had an early bogey on the fourth, but then found his rhythm with three separate stretches of back-to-back birdies. He dropped a second bogey on the tenth.
He first birdied the fifth and sixth holes before adding consecutive gains on the 11th and 12th. He then produced another birdie run on the 16th and 17th to move deep into contention.
His focus will be on maintaining the momentum from his opening 65. With three rounds still to play, the Indian-American is well placed to challenge for a high finish in the season's biggest event.
Bhatia had entered the TOUR Championship in 15th place in the FedExCup standings after finishing tied 12th at last week's BMW Championship. His performance there ensured that he retained his position inside the top 30 and secured his place at East Lake.
At the top, Lee made the most of the soft conditions to produce a spectacular eight-under 62 in his TOUR Championship debut.
The Australian was flawless, making eight birdies without dropping a shot to take a two-stroke lead over Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Chris Gotterup, who opened with six-under 64s.
Lee's 62 matched the lowest score of his PGA TOUR career, previously recorded in the opening round of The American Express earlier this year.
The 27-year-old had entered the week 21st in the FedExCup standings after four top-10 finishes in 19 starts, including runner-up efforts at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Scottish Open.
Lee admitted he had struggled with his confidence coming into the final event after what he described as two disappointing weeks, but he showed none of those concerns in his opening round at East Lake.
He made four of his eight birdies from outside 10 feet and capped his bogey-free round with a birdie on the par-five 18th.
Scheffler, the 2024 FedExCup champion and world number one, also made a strong start with a bogey-free 65.
The American, who collected a USD 23 million bonus after last week's BMW Championship, had been dealing with hand, foot and mouth disease that affected him last week. However, he appeared much closer to full fitness at East Lake.
The format at the TOUR Championship means Scheffler's previous FedExCup position provides no advantage this week.
All 30 players begin on an equal footing, with the winner at East Lake being crowned the FedExCup champion and taking home the USD 10 million first prize.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
