Blue monster

Trump National Doral: Sahith Theegala delivered a strong opening round to position himself inside the top 10 at the Cadillac Championship, while Akshay Bhatia also made an encouraging start at Trump National Doral’s demanding 'Blue Monster' course.

Theegala fired a 3-under 69 to finish tied-ninth after round one, four shots behind leader Cameron Young, who set the pace with a flawless 8-under 64 at the $20 million event. Bhatia carded a 2-under 70 to be tied-15th, while Indo-Canadian Sudarshan Yellamaraju opened with a 74 to sit tied-52nd.

Theegala began aggressively, picking up three birdies within his first five holes to quickly climb the leaderboard. Although his momentum slowed mid-round, he maintained composure to stay under par. His card included birdies on the par-4 second, par-3 third, and par-4 fifth, followed later by gains on the par-5 10th and par-3 15th.