Akshay Bhatia shot an 8-under-64 to take a one stroke lead over Taylor Montgomery and Michael Kim. Bhatia, 22, is seeking his third PGA Tour title in a roughly 11-month span after winning the Barracuda Championship last July and the Valero Texas Open in April.
Defending champion Rickie Fowler opened with a 6-under 66 and is tied for fourth with Will Zalatoris, Eric Cole, Germany’s Matti Schmid and England’s Aaron Rai. Cameron Young, who shot 59 during the third round of last week’s Travelers Championship, is part of a group tied at 5-under 67.
🚀 Montgomery 2nd Despite Injury: Taylor Montgomery, playing for the first time since withdrawing from the CJ Cup in early May after an opening-round 80, has struggled since his T-11 finish at the Players in March, missing three cuts and withdrawing twice. An MRI revealed tears in both shoulders, for which he’s been doing daily rehab exercises for 30-45 minutes.
Despite this, he shot a commendable 65 and tied for second place after Round 1.
🎯 Defending Champion In Contention: Rickie Fowler got off to a great title defense with a bogey-free 66. He gained nearly 3 strokes to the field on the greens in the first round.
Fowler had gone back to a conventional grip earlier this season but switched back to using a cross-handed grip the last three weeks and that seems to be working!
📌 Zalatoris Back In Form: Will Zalatoris finished with a flurry – five birdies in his final six holes to shoot 66. It has been a bit of a struggle coming back from back surgery this season and it has tested his patience, most notably when he missed the cut at the US Open at Pinehurst No 2.
But he looks well settled now and notably poured in a 47-foot birdie at 14 and a 29-footer at 18 during Round 1 at the Detroit Golf Club.
AE batia shot an 8 under 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Taylor Montgomery and Michael Kim after round one of the rocket mortgage Classic Tournament baa 22 is seeking his third PGA Tour title in a roughly 11-month span after winning the Barracuda Championship last July and the Valero Texas open in April defending Champion Ricky Fowler opened with a six under 66 and is tied for fourth with Will zalatoris Eric Cole Germany’s mati Schmid and England’s Aaron Ry Cameron young who shot 59 during the third round of last week’s Travelers Championship is part of a group tied at five under 67 before we move to the other top stories subscribe to this Channel and give this video a thumbs up if you’d like to stay updated about everything golf Taylor Montgomery playing for the first time since withdrawing from the CJ Cup in early May after an opening round 80 has struggled since his 11th Place finish at the players in March missing three cuts and withdrawing twice an MRI revealed tears in both shoulders for which he’s been doing daily rehab exercises for 30 45 minutes despite this he shot a commendable 65 and tied for second place after round one Ricky Fowler got off to a great title defense with a bogey free 66 he gained nearly three Strokes to the field on the greens in the first round Fowler had gone back to a convention grip earlier this season but switched back to using a cross-handed grip the last 3 weeks and that seems to be working and lastly will zalatoris finished with a flurry five birdies in his final six holes to shoot 66 it has been a bit of a struggle coming back from back surgery this season and it has tested his patience most notably when he missed the cut at the US Open at pinhurst number two but he looks well settled now and notably poured in a 47t birdie at 14 and a 29f footer at 18 during round one at the Detroit golf club for more tournament updates and news keep following golf reporter
