Memphis (USA), Aug 14 (IANS) It was not the best of starts for the Indian origin quartet as they had modest opening rounds at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of the three play-off events on the PGA Tour.
Sahith Theegala was the best of the four at T-26 with a round of 1-under 69, while Sudarshan Yellamaraju, who had a double bogey and an eagle on successive holes, was the next best at T-37 with a card of even par 70. Akshay Bhatia (72) and the PGA Champion Aaron Rai (72) were tied at 53rd.
Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth, who is winless in more than four years, showed that he could be a winner this week, as he was bogey-free for a 5-under 65 that gave him a share of the five-way lead in the first round. It also increased his chances of making it to the next event in the play-offs.
The Rocket Classic champion Michael Thorbjornsen, Jake Knapp, Michael Kim and Kurt Kitayama also opened with 65s in the sweltering heat at TPC Southwind.
Spieth and Kim are outside the top 50 in the FedExCup, which advances to the BMW Championship next week. So, they need decent finishes to stay on in the Play-offs. Last year Spieth was 48thand then fell out of the top 50 ahead of the second event.
Theegala opened and closed with a birdie, and in between he had two other birdies and then bogeys, including back-to-back dropped shots on the 14thand 15th.
Bhatia, also supported by Hero, had two birdies against four bogeys, three of which came between the 10thand the 14thon the back nine.
Yellamaraju had an eventful round with an eagle, a birdie, a bogey and a double bogey and 14 pars. He is T-37 and needs an upward move to stay in the Play-offs and get into the Top-50 from being T-57 at the start. Rai had four bogeys and two birdies in his round of 72.
Behind the top five at 65, there was a crowd of seven players, including defending FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland and Adam Scott, all at 66.
Four others were another stroke back.
There is a lot of emphasis on getting into the top 50 because that locks up all the $20 million Signature Events for next season. Spieth has been on the outside the last two years.
More than half the field, however, already is assured of heading to Bellerive in St. Louis for the BMW Championship. For the likes of Woodland and Scott — both just inside the top 30 — a good week could lock them up for the TOUR Championship and a shot at playing for the FedExCup, which comes with a reward of getting into all the majors next season.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who has played TPC Southwind more times (seven) without winning than any other course on the PGA TOUR, opened with a 68. He was playing alongside Masters champion Rory McIlroy, who skipped last year knowing that his result had no bearing on his position the rest of the playoffs.
McIlroy finished bogey-bogey-double bogey for 74.
Spieth opened with eight pars, finally got a putt to fall, and then ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch, including a 40-footer on the par-3 14th. Mostly, no bogeys on the card was a plus.
Jackson Koivun, who won the 3M Open in his third start as a pro and narrowly got the final spot in the postseason at No. 70, played alone and shot 71 as the field was down to 69 with Daniel Berger choosing not to play.
–IANS
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