Sahith Theegala will have some great company in Sepp Straka in the opening round of the 107th PGA Championship, but he also has some worries hanging around his neck, as per a release from PGA.
Bhatia had two birdies in the first three holes and a bogey-birdie on the fourth and fifth. Then came a hat-trick of bogeys from the seventh to the ninth as he turned in one-over 36. On the back nine, he had the 12th, 14th and 15th and bogeyed the 13th, 17th and 18th
The Indian-American Bhatia sits tied third alongside Rickie Fowler, Colin Morikawa and Sepp Straka. Bhatia, who was third at the PLAYERS this year, is two behind the leader, Keith Mitchell (61) and one behind Denny McCarthy (62)
Veer Ahlawat had just two birdies against six bogeys in the opening round and is the only Indian playing this week as Shubhankar Sharma skipped the event
The field is led by the AT&T Pebble Beach, PLAYERS and Masters champion and also the defending champion Rory McIlroy as nine of the Top-10 in the world teeing up at this week. McIlroy won this event as the Wells Fargo last year
Indian-American Sahith Theegala, partnering another pro with an Indian touch, Aaron Rai, shot nine-under and the pair was tied-13th after the first day at the Zurich Classic. The pair was five shots behind PGA Tour rookies, Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Velo, who totalled 14-under.
Wu Ashun is no stranger to winning on the DP World Tour as he now has five wins. His last win was the Magical Kenya Open back in 2022. This is his second win on home soil, and it came 10 years after the first in 2015.
Sahith Theegala (73), dropped late bogeys on the 14th and the 18th which wiped out his two birdies on the 16th and the 17th. Debutant Aaron Rai suffered three bogeys on the fourth, sixth and 10th, but rallied superbly with four birdies in a row from the 13th only to finish bogey-bogey for a
Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai, two of the three Indian-origin at the 89th Masters, were on the front page of the leaderboard at the end of opening day, which had a lot of big names led by Justin Rose, who shot a 7-under 65.
Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia have an added tag to their name this year with an Indian sponsorship from Hero, one of the biggest Indian backers of the sport in and out of the country