Rai, Bhatia and Yellamaraju Share 33rd as Theegala Battles to 44th at Memorial Tournament

Dublin: Indian-origin golfers, Aaron Rai, Akshay Bhatia and Sudarshan Yellamaraju, remained within striking distance after a demanding opening round at the Memorial Tournament, one of the PGA Tour’s premier Signature Events, while fellow Indian-American Sahith Theegala also stayed in contention despite a difficult start.

The challenging conditions at Muirfield Village Golf Club ensured that low scores were scarce, with only 22 players breaking par. Against that backdrop, Rai, Bhatia, and Yellamaraju all posted identical rounds of 1-over 73 to share 33rd place, while Theegala opened with a 2-over 74 and was tied for 44th.

At the top of the leaderboard, Tommy Fleetwood, Wyndham Clark, J.J. Spaun, and Ryan Gerard set the early pace with rounds of 5-under 67.

Much of the attention among Indian golf followers centred on Aaron Rai, who was making his first appearance since his landmark triumph at the PGA Championship. The Englishman of Indian heritage returned to competition looking to build on the biggest victory of his career and produced a steady if unspectacular round.

Starting on the front nine, Rai birdied the fourth and seventh holes but gave both shots back with successive bogeys on the eighth and ninth. He briefly moved under par again with a birdie at the 11th, but dropped strokes on the 12th and 17th holes to finish at 73.

Akshay Bhatia’s opening round followed a similar pattern of promise and frustration. The Indian-American left-hander appeared poised to join the small group of players under par before a costly mistake at the final hole undid much of his good work. Bhatia picked up early bogeys at the fourth and eighth holes and turned in 2-over par. However, he responded strongly on the back nine with consecutive birdies at the 11th and 12th before adding another at the 14th to move into red figures for the day. IANS

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