Shane Lowry endured a tough return to tournament golf, as the Offaly man – playing for the first time in three weeks, since the Open – shot an opening round 73, three-over-par, in the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, to trail clubhouse leader Akshay Bhatia by 11 shots.
Left-hander Bhatia shot a career low 62 for the American to leapfrog his way into the lead, a stroke clear of a pair of English men, Justin Rose and Harry Hall.
The St Jude event, confined to 70 players off the regular season order of merit, but with only 69 playing due to Rory McIlroy opting to skip it, is the first of the PGA Tour’s playoffs with the leading 50 on the FedEx Cup standings moving on to next week’s BMW Championship and, then, just 30 progressing to the season-ending Tour Championship.
McIlroy’s passage to Atlanta is assured, which explains his decision to add another week off for an extended break before a busy late season.
RM Block
Lowry was 17th on the FedEx Cup standings heading into Memphis but his bid to improve that status got off to a poor start in an opening round during which he managed just one birdie, at the Par 5 third hole, followed by bogeys at the fifth, sixth, 12th and 13th to fall away towards the tail end of the field in the $20 million (€17 million) tournament.
In contrast, Bhatia’s superb round featured an eagle – on the Par 5 16th, where he hit an approach of almost 240 yards inside 15ft and rolled in the putt – along with seven birdies and a solitary bogey to post his 62.
Bhatia attributed a change in mindset to his improved play this season, leading into this career low round: “I’ve been looking at a lot of numbers that I don’t need to look at, obviously FedExCup, world ranking, and I’m still doing it, and I still catch myself doing it.
“I’m just really trying to have a little more peace on the golf course. I think this game can consume your life, your happiness, and so I’m just trying to figure out ways to change that because I feel like I don’t really want to live my life based off of an unstable game. That’s going to drive me nuts. This whole year it has, so I’m just trying to be just a little more at ease with whatever I shoot.”
In the Nexo Open at Trump International Aberdeen on the DP World Tour, Dubliner Conor Purcell – the only Irish player in the event – opened with a one-over-par 73 to lie in tied-43rd, six shots behind first round leader Richard Sterne of South Africa.
And, in the Irish Challenge at Killeen Castle in Co Meath on the Hotelplanner Tour, Meath man Alex Maguire carded a fine four-under-par 68 to get into an eight-way tie for second, a stroke behind first round leader Oliver Farr of Wales.
