Akshay Bhatia closed strong enough in the opening round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic that he surged atop the leaderboard, and yet he knows no lead is safe at the Detroit Golf Club.
Bhatia chipped in for eagle from 83 feet on the 17th hole
and ended with a birdie for an 8-under 64 Thursday, giving him a one-shot
cushion that isn’t comfortable.
“It’s always nice to finish like that,” he said. “This
tournament’s always kind of a birdie fest, so birdies and eagles help a lot.”
Tony Finau set the tournament record, winning at 26 under
two years ago, and Rickie Fowler needed to win in a playoff last year when 24
under wasn’t good enough through 72 holes.
The 22-year-old Bhatia, the Texas Open winner in April for
his second PGA Tour title, was 6 under over his last six holes in the first
round. He tied for fifth last week in Connecticut, where he was in the final
group that was disrupted by climate protesters storming the 18th green.
Taylor Montgomery and Michael Kim were a stroke back.
Montgomery had a 6-under 30 on his front nine and added one
more birdie on the back in a bogey-free round. He was pleasantly surprised by
his performance, playing for the first time since withdrawing from the Byron
Nelson in early May due to injured shoulders.
“I was more nervous today than I have been on the golf
course in forever just because I felt so unprepared,” Montgomery said, adding
he had played just four times in two months.
Fowler shot 66, closing with three straight birdies much to
the delight of the tournament’s sponsor that pays him to be a brand ambassador.
“There’s always that little extra pressure partly from being
a partner with Rocket and being the defending champion here,” Fowler said.
Will Zalatoris, Aaron Rai, Eric Cole and Matti Schmid also
were at 66.
Cameron Young and Neal Shipley, making his PGA Tour debut,
were another shot back.
The 23-year-old Shipley, who was the low amateur at the
Masters and U.S. Open, was 2 over after eight holes, then played the final 10
in 7 under. He eagled the par-4 first and had five five straight birdies on
Nos. 4-8.
The event includeincludees just 10 of the world’s top 50
players, with Bhatia ranked 31st.
Tom Kim, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 16,
lost in a playoff to Scottie Scheffler last week and may have shown signs of
fatigue in his ninth consecutive tournament.
Kim shot a 73 and will have to bounce back with a strong
round to make the cut on a short course with receptive greens that is ripe for
birdies.
A pair of notable amateurs played on the PGA Tour for the
first time.
Luke Clanton, who set a Florida State record with a scoring
average of 69.3, has a shot to make it to the weekend after an opening 69.
Miles Russell is talented enough to earn a sponsor exemption
after becoming the youngest player in Korn Ferry Tour history to make a cut. At
15, though, he’s not old enough to drive the courtesy car provided by the
tournament and technically isn’t permitted to enter the men’s locker room at
Detroit Golf Club.
The baby-faced Russell looks his age, saying he’s “probably”
5-oot-7 and weighs “maybe” 120 pounds, but his game is mature.
Russell calmed his nerves well enough to hit his first drive
305 yards to the middle of the fairway, but his approach from 119 yards landed
in a greenside bunker to set up a bogey.
He went on to make some par-saving putts before carding his
first birdie on his 12th hole only to give strokes back with a
double bogey three holes later.
“Should have been nervous all day,” he said after shooting a
74. “It was a good day, settled in nicely.” AP