Jacksonville [US], March 13 : Golfer Sahith Theegala produced an impressive performance on the opening day of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra, Florida in the US, carding a 5-under 67 to share the lead before play was suspended early due to darkness.
Theegala joined Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges, Sepp Straka and Austin Smotherman at the top of the leaderboard. Smotherman was the only player among the leaders who had not completed his round, with one hole still to play.
The 28-year-old, who was troubled by injuries last season, began his round strongly with three consecutive birdies on the front nine. His only setback came at the ninth hole, where he dropped a shot after finding trouble in a bunker.
The highlight of his round came on the 12th hole, where he holed a spectacular 99-yard wedge shot for eagle. He later added another birdie on the 16th hole to finish the day tied for the lead.
Reflecting on the eagle shot, Theegala said, "I had 99 yards. That pin is on that little shelf, so usually it's just a stock lob wedge, but I hit a little 54 degree to try and just one-hop it up the slope there, and I blocked it a hair. I hit it a little skinny and just came out a little right. Got a nice bounce. So for it to crash into the pin and go in is pretty cool. It's a nice bonus."
On his return after an injury, he said, "So, yeah, it was nice to start this year healthy. I was healthy in the fall, but my speed took forever to come back, and guys were just telling me to stay patient, guys that had left shoulder and left oblique injuries or rib injuries. They said the speed just takes a while to come back. Your body just doesn't trust it until it's way outside the injury."
Theegala, who after falling outside the top-100, has had three Top-10s this year.
Among other players of Indian origin, Akshay Bhatia, fresh from his victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week, finished with a 1-under 71 to be placed T-30.
Sudarshan Yellamaraju was 1-over through 17 holes, placing him around T-52 when play was halted. Aaron Rai carded 74 to sit at T-69.
Bhatia started his round well with two birdies but suffered a double bogey on the 14th hole. After a birdie-bogey-birdie stretch, he completed the back nine at 1-under and then recorded nine consecutive pars on the front nine.
The young American has also confirmed he will compete in the Indian Open later this month, despite never having played in India before.
Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, finished with an even-par round, placing him T-40, while Rory McIlroy, ranked world number two, struggled with a 2-over 74, placing him T-69.
Tommy Fleetwood opened strongly with a 3-under 69, good enough for T-10.
Meanwhile, Collin Morikawa was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury after completing just one hole of his round.
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