Bay Hill (US), Mar 8 (PTI) Indian-American golfer Sahith Theegala produced a solid four-under 68 that placed him at tied fourth after the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational here.

Theegala was two shots behind Europe's Ryder Cup star Shane Lowry (66), who has missed the cut four times earlier in this event.

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Japan's Hideki Matsuyama fought off lower back pain to fire a first round of five-under 67 to lie one shot behind Lowry. The 67 matched Matsuyama's lowest score at Bay Hill and he was tied with Justin Lower in the USD 20 million PGA TOUR Signature Event.

Theegala had an interesting round with an eagle, five birdies, a bogey and a double bogey. He found 10 of the 14 fairways and 11 of the 18 greens in regulation and 24 putts in an up-and-down round.

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Theegala was tied for fourth place with Lee Hodges, Sam Burns and Russell Henley.

This season, Theegala, currently ranked 22nd in the world, has missed just one cut in six starts. He was runner-up at the season-opener The Sentry and was fifth at Waste Management Phoenix Open in Arizona. He was also T-20 at AT&T Pebble Beach.

Matsuyama, who now holds the record of most PGA TOUR wins by an Asian golfer with nine titles, started the week with a sore back but navigated his way around Bay Hill brilliantly to end the day in tied second place.

In relatively calm conditions, the 2021 Masters champion started strongly with an 18-foot birdie on the first hole before adding two more birdies on the fourth and fifth holes from inside of four feet.

He traded two more birdies against as many bogeys after the turn, and chipped in for eagle on 16 from off the green.

With his record victory at the Genesis Invitational, which is hosted by Tiger Woods, and his maiden PGA TOUR title at the 2014 Memorial Tournament, which is hosted by Jack Nicklaus, Matsuyama is eyeing a unique treble of wins as this week's event is held in honour of the late Arnold Palmer.

Chinese Taipei's C.T. Pan birdied two of his last three holes for a 71, and was matched by Korean duo Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An.

Lowry, a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR, used a superb inward 31 to take the first round lead with a fine 66.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)