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MEMPHIS: Akshay Bhatia fired an 8-under-par 62 in Thursday’s first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship to grab a one-stroke lead over England’s Tommy Fleetwood in the opening event of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs.

Fleetwood made a late charge up the leaderboard by birdieing the final four holes for his 7-under 63 at TPC Southwind.

Two strokes behind Bhatia at 6-under 64 are Bud Cauley and Englishmen Harry Hall and Justin Rose. Si Woo Kim of Korea shot 65.

Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Maverick McNealy, Russell Henley and Ben Griffin are four back after 4-under 66s. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler had a chance to join them, but his short par putt on 18 slid past the hole and he settled for a 67.

Bhatia tossed aside a season filled mostly with disappointment to move atop the leaderboard. His strong start included four birdies on the front nine and an eagle-3 on the par-5 16th hole. The only blemish on Bhatia’s scorecard was a bogey on the par-4 12th. He closed in impressive fashion, following the eagle on No. 16 with birdie putts on Nos. 17 and 18.

“I felt like I wasn’t putting great throughout the day, but then those last couple putts managed to drop,” Bhatia said. “All in all, I felt like (my) iron play was nice. I just need to kind of clean up a couple things, like a couple wedge shots, and get a little more comfortable with the putter, but all in all, I felt like I was driving it nice.”

The 62 represented Bhatia’s low round on tour this season, one stroke better than his third-round total at the 3M Open last month and his opening round at the Truist Championship in May.

After opening the 2025 season with three top-10 finishes during the first three months, Bhatia has struggled. He has not recorded a top-10 since his third-place finish at The Players Championship in March. He also has missed four cuts and withdrawn after one round in another event.

“I’ve been looking at a lot of numbers that I don’t need to look at, obviously FedEx Cup, world ranking, and I’m still doing it, and I still catch myself doing it,” Bhatia said. “But 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.”

Fleetwood has had five top-10 finishes this season, including a near-victory at the Travelers Championship in June when he was runner-up to Keegan Bradley.

On Thursday, he was even after seven holes, but shot 7-under across his final 11 holes.

“I felt like I hadn’t made the most of any of the chances that I had given myself (early in the round), and I think just being patient through that stretch and then I eventually got something going,” said Fleetwood, in his 15th year on Tour.

Cauley, who has never won a PGA Tour event, closed strong to make a run at Bhatia. Cauley birdied Nos. 10, 12, 15, 16 and 17, all of the putts inside 15 feet. He had moved to 7 under, but his approach on 18 found water and a bogey dropped him back to 6 under.

Hall, who played in the same group with Bhatia, had a bogey-free round. Rose, the runner-up to McIlroy at the Masters, had seven birdies and only one bogey.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup points standings qualified for the St. Jude, but second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, the reigning Masters champion, opted to skip the playoff opener.

Those who finish Sunday ranked in the top 50 of the FedEx Cup points standings qualify for the second round of the playoffs to be held next week in Owings Mills, Md. The top 50 also will be eligible for each of eight PGA Tour signature events in 2026.
 

LONDON: With immersive tech, visionary course design, and a bold ambition to shape the next chapter of global golf, the Saudi Public Investment Fund and Golf Saudi officially launched PIF Future Fairways in central London on Tuesday — a preview event blending innovation with sport to highlight ����ֱ��’s emergence as a world class golf destination.

The event at Urban Golf in Smithfield unveiled an interactive 3D digital version of three flagship Saudi golf courses — Shura Links, Laheq Golf Course, and Trojena Northern Golf Course — designed to position the Kingdom at the heart of golf’s next era.

These next-generation venues will anchor Saudi’s broader ambitions to triple its number of golf courses by 2030 and build a holistic sports and tourism ecosystem.

Attendees, including pro golfers, designers and industry leaders, explored virtual replicas of the new courses, demo-played signature holes on high-tech simulators, and took part in a “closest to the pin” challenge — all while engaging in off-the-record discussions with PIF stakeholders and Golf Saudi executives.

“For me, every experience that I have with Saudi, it’s been amazing,” said Carlota Ciganda, one of Golf Saudi’s ambassadors. “I know what they are capable of doing. These courses look amazing, a lot of fun to play — they’re going to attract a lot of people, a lot of tourists. I would love to go, play, and be part of this.”

Her sentiments were echoed by fellow ambassador Marianne Skarpnord, who said: “I definitely see ����ֱ�� becoming a golf tourist destination. ����ֱ��’s landscapes are tailor-made for golf — from coastal settings to dramatic desert terrain. As we’ve seen here today, there are some amazing courses being built — it’ll be an easy choice for many people coming from the outside.”

Beyond new courses, the event also highlighted Golf Saudi’s long-term commitment to growing the sport from the ground up.

Dedicated programs and academies are now being developed throughout the Kingdom to nurture young talent and embed golf within the local culture — a critical step for any emerging golf nation.

����ֱ��’s new courses — including the coastal Shura Links on Shura Island, the desert-framed Laheq Golf Course along the Red Sea coast, and the alpine-inspired Trojena Northern Golf Course in NEOM — are being designed not just for playability but for global competition. Each is expected to host future tournaments, including events on the PIF Global Series, which resumes this weekend with the PIF Championship at London’s Centurion Club.

The fusion of golf and tourism is at the heart of the vision. By integrating world-class design with environmental sensitivity and destination appeal, ����ֱ�� is not only building venues but offering experiences tailored to the modern golfer.

“The goal is to reimagine how golf is experienced, shared, and celebrated — both locally and globally,” said one stakeholder during the event. “This is not about copying what exists elsewhere. It’s about creating something distinctly Saudi, with universal appeal.”

PIF Future Fairways will continue to appear at all PIF Global Series tournaments through 2025 and into 2026, serving as a traveling exhibition of ����ֱ��’s golf transformation.

For now, Tuesday’s London event delivered a clear message: ����ֱ�� is not just joining the global golf stage — it’s setting the direction for its future.