Rory McIlroy tied for eighth on three under after going bogey-free in his first round; Jordan Spieth salvages slightly poor opening round of 73 with ace on the par three 16th; watch the second round of the Valero Texas Open, live on Sky Sports Golf from 1.15pm, Friday
Friday 5 April 2024 08:01, UK
Akshay Bhatia shot an opening nine-under-par 63 to take a three-shot lead at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
Brendon Todd and Justin Lower hold a share of second place, with Max Homa among a group of four players two shots further back on four under.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy is currently tied for eighth on three under par after going bogey-free in his first round with the addition of three birdies.
Three-time major winner Jordan Spieth salvaged slightly a poor opening round of 73 with a stunning hole-in-one on the par three 16th. Defending champion, Canada's Corey Conners, opened with a two-under 70.
McIlroy, who recently had a lesson with Tiger Woods' former coach Butch Harmon, told PGATour.com after his round: "What I've been trying to do the last couple weeks is no different than what I've been trying to do previously; he just sort of gave me a different way to do it.
"You could tell someone five different things and sometimes none of them resonate, sometimes all of them, sometimes one thing.
"It's just one of those things over the past few months that nothing was resonating with me. He gave me a tiny little something that I went with and it's felt a little better over the last two weeks."
He added: "I think it's the first round I've had without a bogey in quite a while. My game over the last couple months has been quite volatile, so to go out there and play a solid round of golf in pretty tricky conditions, pretty happy with it."
Having gone 10 years without a major win, victory at The Masters next week would be his fifth and see McIlroy join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Woods as the only players to have won all four major championships.
The day one leader at TPC San Antonio, Bhatia, did not drop a shot as he followed four birdies on the front nine
with five on the second, including four in his final five holes.
His nine-under 63 at the resort's Oaks Course gave him a major head start towards winning a second PGA Tour title, which would secure him a first ever trip to Augusta next week.
"I just played really solid," Bhatia said after his round. "I got a couple really good breaks."
"I knew I had two tough tee shots coming in, 15 and 18. If I could just get out of there with a par, maybe birdie 18, just play it how we planned to, it would all work out.
"I thankfully birdied 15 and then 18 got a very good break and happened to kind of hit in the right spots at the right time and made birdie there."
Todd birdied four of his last five holes to tie for second with Lower, who had set the early pace with a bogey-free 66.
Todd and Lower are veterans in the same boat as the 22-year-old Bhatia, in need of a win this week to qualify for The Masters.
Watch the second round of the Valero Texas Open, live on Sky Sports Golf from 1.15pm, Friday. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, majors and more with NOW
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