Indian-origin golfer leads FedEx Cup play-off with VND524 billion

Highlights of round 1 of FedEx St. Jude 2025. Source: PGA Tour

Akshay Bhatia enters the FedEx Cup playoffs with a new mindset: less looking at the standings, less letting numbers dictate emotions.

This season, he admitted, was “demoralizing” and “the hardest I’ve ever had,” as he relied too much on FedEx Cup points (an event with high prize money from sponsors), world rankings or Ryder Cup spots.

“ Golf can consume your life and happiness,” Bhatia said; “so I wanted to find more peace, instead of living on the unstable game.”

Akshay Bhatia FedEx.jpg — Akshay Bhatia is off to a strong start at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Photo: PGA Tour

The change paid off. After making the final cut at the 3M Open, Bhatia opened the FedEx Cup playoffs at the St. Jude Championship with a par-70 62.

Notably, the golfer with two PGA Tour titles played the last three holes with 4 under par – including an eagle at hole 16, birdies at holes 17 and 18 – to rise to the top of the St. Jude Championship standings.

The Indian-American golfer is ranked 45th in the FedEx Cup, almost guaranteed a place in the BMW Championship (play-off stage 2), aiming to break into the top 50 to participate in all Signature tournaments next season.

This season, Bhatia has not been in the top 10 since The Players in March, partly because of a broken driver at The Masters, partly because of the pressure of performance.

He's not alone in his end-of-season struggle. Wyndham Clark, the 2023 US Open champion, is also fighting to keep his place in the majors, sitting in 49th place after starting the week with a 67.

Matt Fitzpatrick, currently ranked 41st, has found form under coach Mark Blackburn and has four consecutive top 10 finishes.

Both Clark and Fitzpatrick were once ranked outside the top 70 but came back strong with adjustments in training and mentality, proving that in golf, the end of the season can still be a new beginning.

Right behind Bhatia was Tommy Fleetwood with a score of -7. Harry Hall, veteran golfer Justin Rose, Bud Cauley all scored -6. Kim Si Woo of Korea had 5 strokes under par.

Four golfers are currently at -4; while eight are at -3 – including Scottie Scheffler, world No. 1 and reigning FedEx Cup holder.

Scheffler had four birdies and was bogey-free in the first 14 holes. However, on the difficult 18th hole, the Open Championship champion ended up with a bogey.

Still, a -3 is not a bad start for Scheffler at the St. Jude Championship – an event with a prize fund of 20 million USD (equivalent to 524.3 billion VND); the champion will win 3.6 million USD (about 94.4 billion VND).