Cameron Young Takes Commanding Lead at Hero World Challenge; Bhatia and Theegala Tie for Third with Scheffler

Albany, Dec 6 (NationPress) Cameron Young, returning to competition after a hiatus exceeding three months, launched his campaign with an impressive 64 at the 2024 Hero World Challenge. His bogey-free opening round granted him a two-shot advantage over Justin Thomas (66), who executed a strong finish with four birdies in succession starting from the 14th hole.

World No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler, making his first appearance since the Presidents Cup in late September, recorded a score of 67 and found himself tied for third along with four other competitors. This marked Scheffler’s 11th score in the 60s across 13 rounds at this tournament, where his past performances included finishes of 2nd, 2nd, and 1st.

Scheffler shared the third position with Indian-American golfers Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala, along with Ludvig Aberg from Sweden and American Patrick Cantlay, all of whom finished with a score of 67.

Neither Young nor Thomas have celebrated a victory in quite some time. Young is still in pursuit of his first win on the PGA Tour, having joined in 2022, while Thomas has not secured a title since the 2022 PGA Championship. His last appearance at the Zozo Championships in late October resulted in a second-place finish. Additionally, the former World No. 1 has recently embraced fatherhood.

Reflecting on his time away from the game, Young shared, “Yeah, just some work on myself physically and then just standard practice. I mean, it's a nice time to go back to all the really simple things and make them comfortable again and getting yourself really square, working on setup things.”

Young, who recorded a stunning 59 at the Travelers in June this year, continues to chase his inaugural win on the PGA Tour. Having finished third in his debut at the Hero World Challenge in 2022, he boasts five Top-10 finishes in his last 13 majors, including a runner-up finish at the Open in St. Andrews in 2022 and a T-3 at the 2022 PGA Championships. Since the latter half of 2022, Young has accumulated eight second-place finishes on the PGA Tour.

Demonstrating his determination to change his fortunes, Young made five birdies in his first eight holes and added three more on the back nine to achieve a bogey-free 64.

Bhatia's only appearance since the Tour Championships in late August was the Dunlop Phoenix event in Japan two weeks ago, where he finished tied for second. Expressing satisfaction with his 67, Bhatia remarked, “I played the par 5s pretty well today. I haven't played too much competitive golf so I was a little more nervous and so all in all, it was pretty good. I have this new prototype driver in the bag which is a big thing for me. I felt like my driving stats last year kind of went downhill a little bit. I was fighting a two-way miss, making good swings. Some weeks it was good and some weeks it just wasn't there.”

Theegala, after a modest first nine holes at 1-under, was pleased with his strong finish, which included four birdies. On the previous day, which marked his 27th birthday, Theegala expressed, “Playing this event was always a big thing.” Now playing alongside Scheffler, he shot a 67 to tie for third with him.

Scheffler, who celebrated seven victories in 2024, along with clinching the Olympic gold medal, recorded a score of 67, marking his 11th round in the 60s since he first participated in the Hero World Challenge in 2021. His prior results at this event included finishes of 2nd, 2nd, and 1st.

Scheffler, who enjoys making adjustments towards the season's end, brought a new putter and a new putting coach to last year's event, which contributed to his victory. This time, he experimented with a different grip that was neither a ‘saw’ nor a ‘claw’, adapting it based on the length of the putt.

Scheffler commented, “Typically the further I am away from the hole, I'd say the more likely I am to use the conventional grip because I feel like my speed has always been extremely good, especially from long range. I think I've always been a really, really good lag putter. That's an area where I don't think I would see much improvement with the grip. The closer I get to the hole, kind of that inside 15-foot range, I think that's where I'm seeing a lot of the benefits of it.”

Another player relishing his first round in six weeks after finishing second at the Zozo Championships in Japan was Thomas.

Thomas stated, “Definitely pleased with how especially how the start was. I mean, just wasn't taking advantage of any of the par 5s or scoring holes and I wasn't making anything at all. Hit some good putts, hit some really, really bad putts, but just felt like I was maybe just trying a little too hard to get it going.” Nevertheless, a score of 67 provides him with a strong beginning.

Dunlap reached a low of seven-under at one point but lost a shot on the 16th. He encountered thick vegetation on the 18th, resulting in a double bogey that brought him down to four-under, tying him for eighth place alongside Robert MacIntyre, Sam Burns, and Keegan Bradley, who all recorded scores of 68.