Bhatia fires 7-under in first round, lies seventh at Pebble Beach

Pebble Beach (USA), Feb 13 (PTI) Indian-American golfer Akshay Bhatia got off to a blazing start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, carding a 7-under 65 to sit tied for seventh after the opening round.

He fired three consecutive birdies, added two more on the sixth and seventh to reach 5-under through seven, and, without dropping a shot, closed the round with birdies on the 15th and 18th.

Another Indian-American Sahith Theegala had a rollercoaster round, finishing 1-under 71 and tied for 57th.

He started well with birdies on the second and fourth holes but dropped a shot on the fifth. A tough stretch from the ninth to 11th saw him card three consecutive bogeys, falling to 2-over. Showing resilience, Theegala birdied three of his final five holes to get back under par.

Aaron Rai had a rough round of 5-over 77.

Ryo Hisatsune, coming off two good weeks including a runner-up finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, had three straight birdies early in his round. He then made the only birdie on the par-4 ninth and finished with three straight for a 62.

He was one shot ahead of Keegan Bradley and Sam Burns.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy, in his first PGA Tour start of the year, had a pair of three-putt double bogeys on the par 5s that caused him to settle for a 68.

Chris Gotterup, who already has two wins this year, had six birdies in the first six and then a bogey on the eighth followed by three more birdies on the back nine for an 8-under 64.

Tony Finau and Patrick Rodgers each had 64 as they joined Gotterup in a tie for fourth.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had a tough day and he needed a birdie on the 18th to ensure he was not over par, as he carded an even-par 72. PTI Cor AM AM AM