Akshay Bhatia used a sizzling closing stretch to post an 8-under-par 64 and take the first-round lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Thursday at Detroit Golf Club.
Bhatia, 22, is seeking his third PGA Tour title in a roughly 11-month span after winning the Barracuda Championship last July and the Valero Texas Open in April.
His bogey-free round put him one stroke ahead of Taylor Montgomery and Michael Kim. Defending champion Rickie Fowler opened with a 6-under 66 and is tied for fourth with Will Zalatoris, Eric Cole, Germany’s Matti Schmid and England’s Aaron Rai.
Bhatia had four birdies through 15 holes before a birdie-eagle-birdie finish. He stuck his approach at the par-4 16th hole inside 6 feet to set up birdie. Then came a chip-in eagle from just off the green at the par-5 17th, giving him the lead at the time. He closed his day with a 7-foot birdie putt.
“It’s always nice to finish like that,” Bhatia said. “This tournament’s always kind of a birdie-fest, so birdies and eagles help a lot. It’s nice to finish that way.”
The trick now is to close it out.
“I feel like the results haven’t been where I’ve wanted them to be, but I’ve been playing pretty solid,” Bhatia said. “I’ve been right there for, you know, over 40 holes I would say the last couple weeks. It’s just I’m having some hiccups either Saturday or Sunday. I’m just trying to figure that out.”
Montgomery and Kim also kept bogeys off the card. Montgomery started on the back nine and shot a 6-under 30 before cooling off on the front. Kim, who also played the back nine first, finished his round with three straight birdies, including a 2-footer at the par-3 ninth hole.
“I felt better as the round went on,” Kim said. “Kind of got off to a scrappy start, you know, couple of drives in the rough, but got up and down for par. Then I kind of got into the groove of things and was able to make some really nice putts for some birdies.”
Fowler likewise had a bogey-free round and birdied four of his final five holes. His triumph at last year’s Rocket Mortgage ended a winless spell of more than four years.
“Coming off of last week, finally started to see some putts go in there and putted well,” Fowler said. “I was looking forward to this week coming back to a place I’ve played well and had success. Yeah, there’s always that little extra pressure partly from being a partner with Rocket (Mortgage) and being the defending champion here, putting pressure on yourself as well. All good.”
Cameron Young, who shot 59 during the third round of last week’s Travelers Championship, is part of a group tied at 5-under 67.
Amateur Miles Russell, 15, shot a 2-over 74 in his first round on the PGA Tour. The top-ranked junior in the world is playing on a sponsor’s exemption.
“Today was a great day,” Russell said. “I mean, for it to be the first (round), definitely wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but we live, we learn, we move on. So looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully tomorrow’s going to be better.”
–Field Level Media
