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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 He also has missed four cuts and withdrawn after one round in another event.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.
 

Islamabad: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Thursday it has decided to place cricketer Haider Ali under provisional suspension, saying it was informed that the Greater Manchester Police was conducting a criminal investigation against the athlete. 

Without sharing details of the investigation, the PCB said the probe relates to an incident that reportedly occurred during the Pakistan Shaheens’ cricket team’s recent tour of England.

The board said in line with its duty to ensure the welfare and legal rights of all its players, the PCB has ensured that Haider Ali has received “appropriate legal support” to protect his rights throughout this process. The cricket board added that it respects the legal procedures and processes of the UK and acknowledges the importance of allowing the investigation to run its due course.

“Accordingly, the PCB has decided to place Haider Ali under provisional suspension, effective immediately, pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” it added. 

The cricket board said that once the legal proceedings conclude and all facts have been duly established, the PCB reserves the right to take “appropriate action” under its Code of Conduct.

“Until such time as the legal process reaches its conclusion, the PCB will not offer further comment on the matter,” the board concluded. 

Ali, 24, is a right-handed aggressive batter who has featured for Pakistan in only two ODIs but 35 T20Is and 164 T20s. In T20Is, he has scored 505 runs at an average of 17.41 and made three half-centuries. In T20s, the batter has scored 3,141 runs and scored 17 fifties.

He has played for renowned Pakistan Super League franchises such as Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi.