Memphis, Tennessee – Akshay Bhatia led the PGA Tour postseason to a good start, shutting down Eagle-Birdie-Birdie at an 8-under 62 to keep her career low and earning a one-shot lead from Tommy Fleetwood of the Fedex St. St. Jude Championship.
Scottie Scheffler played for the first time since winning the British Open in the second major of the year, and played 10 consecutive rounds of bogeys in the 60s on the final hole of 67.
Batia appears in the FedEx Cup playoffs at No. 45, moving forward to second of three tournaments in the postseason where only the top 50 is favored. The idea is to be one of the top 30 to reach Eastlake for a shot with a $10 million bonus.
He was paired with Harry Hall from England. He is on number 44. The hall coincided with Batia until the last two holes.
Batia said it took too long to think about numbers, whether it was his score, world rankings, or his position in the FedEx Cup. The goal is to keep his heart peaceful.
“I felt quite relaxed and I’m just not trying to force anything,” he said. “It’s okay to get mad at a golf shot, but it’s not yours.”
Justin Rose and Bud Courley, who are on No. 53, were also at 64 at TPC Southwind, with courses with 18 new greens and thicker roughs.
Fleetwood has almost set the FedEx Cup finale at No. 9, but he wants to win that first PGA Tour title and bring a victory against a strong field on the European Tour. He hit 13 of the 14 fairways, but what he missed led to a birdie when he stopped a bunker shot on No. 9.
“People talk about this golf course as a second shot golf course, but if you’re on the fairway, it’s the second shot golf course,” Fleetwood said. “I hit the balls very well off the tee, so I always gave myself the opportunity.”
And it helped me to see the putt fall.
Fleetwood has the right outlook for this postseason series. Fleetwood was asked if he saw the three weeks as one big event or each tournament.
Projections can fluctuate in shots from anyone, anywhere on the course. Ricky Fowler missed the top 70 that played in the postseason last year, and entered the 64th and shot a 66.
Jordan Spieth was on No. 48. He had to raise the rally with a 69 back nine.
Schaeffler said no for at least another week. 1 seed guaranteed. He looked a lot of sharp, saw lots of birdies and changed four of them. He missed a good birdie chance at par 5 16th place and ran into the rough to send his next shot to a bunker about 100 yards below the green. He also took three putts from 70 feet in the final hole.
“Today was a good day. I did some solid things,” Schaeffler said. “I felt like I was really close to a great round, but it ended with a solid round. It was a decent start overall.”
This is one of the most important weeks of the PGA Tour. Not only will the Top 50 advance to the BMW Championship, they are guaranteed to take part in all of the $20 million signing events next year.
Among the people of the bubble, Si Woo Kim (No. 46) opened with 65 people, with former US Open Champion Wyndham Clark having 67.
“It’s like a dangerous place right now,” Kim said. “And as I started to struggle, I said, ‘I don’t know if I’ll get through it until next week.’ But I tried to make it as simple as possible.
Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley could be his first captain since 1963, opening at 72. Bradley is 10th in the Ryder Cup position. He played with Maverick McNerry, who was 11th in the rankings. McNerry shot 66.