Theegala slips to 9th, is joined by fellow Indian-American Bhatia; Scheffler leads in Hawaii

Kapalua, Hawaii, Jan 5 ( IANS) Scottie Scheffler the World’s No. 1 player, once again emphasised why he is so dominant, as he added a 9-under 64 to his first round 66 to get to 16-under for two rounds at The Sentry. He now has a one-shot lead going into the weekend at the PGA TOUR’s season opener.

He led by one over a jet-lagged Tyrell Hatton (69-62), Brendon Todd (67-64) and Sungjae Im (65-66). Hatton took just over 25 hours to get from London to Maui, partly due to a mechanical delay on top of his three-hour layover in Los Angeles. Yet his 62 was his lowest round as a pro, as low scoring was the trend at the Plantation Course at Kapalua for the 59-player field.

The average score was 67.4 on Friday and all 59 players broke par.

Overnight leader Indian-American Sahith Theegala, who shot 64 on the first day had just one bogey, but his five birdies meant a 69 and he dropped to T-9. The other Indian-American in the field Akshay Bhatia (69-64) joined Theegala at T-9 with a bogey free round with nine birdies.

Scheffler, who had one of the best year on the PGA Tour last year and was voted PGA TOUR Player of the Year for the second straight time, won his last event of 2023 in the elite, 20-man field at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.

Now in Maui, he holed a lot of birdie putts and some 6-footers for par to move ahead.

“I played really solid,” he said. “The few times I got into trouble I got out pretty quick and hit some nice pitches and a couple nice putts as well.”

FedExCup champion Viktor Hovland made an eagle putt from just over 50 feet on the closing hole for a 67 that left him two shots back in a group that featured Collin Morikawa (67), Chris Kirk (65) and Byeong Hun An (64).

Korea’s An closed with a stunning eagle en route to a sparkling 9-under 64 as he joined compatriot Sungjae Im in the title hunt.

The 32-year-old An, who is chasing his maiden PGA TOUR victory, soared into tied fifth place on 14-under 132, just two strokes behind 36-hole leader Scottie Scheffler at The Plantation Course at Kapalua, Maui. An has four career runner-up finishes on TOUR.

Im, a two-time winner, maintained his strong start to the 2024 PGA TOUR season. After an opening 65 on Thursday, the 25-year-old sank eight birdies, including three in his last four holes, against a lone bogey.

Another Korean, Si Woo Kim, carded a 66 to sit T23 on 136, while Tom Kim returned a 70 as he slipped to tied 38th place. Japan's Hideki Matsuyama shot 68, three shots better than his opening round, as he remained T46 on 139.

Source: IANS