Pebble Beach (USA), February 13 Indian-American golfer Akshay Bhatia had a brilliant start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, scoring a 7-under 65 to be tied for seventh after the first round.
He made three consecutive birdies, added two more on the sixth and seventh holes, and finished with birdies on the 15th and 18th to reach 5-under after seven holes, without dropping a shot.
Another Indian-American, Sahith Theegala, had a mixed round, finishing 1-under with a score of 71 and tied for 57th.
He started well with birdies on the second and fourth holes, but dropped a shot on the fifth. A difficult stretch from the ninth to the 11th saw him card three consecutive bogeys, falling to 2-over. Theegala then made three birdies in his final five holes to return under par.
Aaron Rai had a difficult round with a score of 5-over 77.
Ryo Hisatsune, who had two good weeks, including a second-place finish at the Farmers Insurance Open, had three consecutive birdies early in his round. He then made the only birdie on the par-4 ninth and finished with three more for a score of 62.
He was one stroke ahead of Keegan Bradley and Sam Burns.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy had two triple bogeys on the par 5s, which resulted in a score of 68.
Chris Gotterup, who already had two wins this year, had six birdies in the first six holes, followed by a bogey on the eighth, and then three more birdies on the back nine for a score of 64.
Tony Finau and Patrick Rodgers each had a score of 64, joining Gotterup in a tie for fourth place.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had a tough day and needed a birdie on the 18th to ensure he was not over par, as he scored an even-par 72.
