Akshay Bhatia moves closer to Top-10 at Truist

Indian-American golfer Akshay Bhatia edged closer to a top-10 placement, while Rory McIlroy began his chase of the leaders with a fine second nine at the Truist Championship.

Bhatia added 1-under 71 following two late bogeys and was tied 12th. McIlroy (70-67) moved into tied fifth, as Korean Sungjae Im (64-69) climbed to the very top at 9-under and a one-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood (67-67) and Hero Indian Open winner, Alex Fitzpatrick (67-68), was tied third alongside Justin Thomas (67-68), and showed he is relishing his PGA Tour membership.

Bhatia was progressing well at 3-under through 12 holes when he was hit by back-to-back bogeys on the 13th and the 14th and dropped to 1-under.

Sudarshan Yellamaraju, the Indo-Canadian, added 69 to his first round 71 and is now T-24, up eight places. Yellamaraju had four birdies and two bogeys, the second of which came on the 18th.

Indo-American Sahith Theegala (72-71) stayed at T-43. He started on the 10th and had an action-filled stretch with two birdies, an eagle and two bogeys for a 1-under 35. On the second nine, he birdied the seventh but closed with back-to-back bogeys. For Sungjae Im, the season has not gone well as he has battled through a wrist injury and has only one top-40 finish. This week could change that.

McIlroy (70-67), the World No. 2, showed his form on the back nine and picked five birdies before dropping a bogey on 18th but his 67 saw him get into top-10 at tied eighth in his first start since winning his second Masters title last month.

At one point, McIlroy hit 14 straight greens in regulation. Tommy Fleetwood shot 67 for the second straight day and trailed Im by one shot. Justin Thomas was two back, along with Alex Fitzpatrick, the brother of Matt Fitzpatrick, who is way back in T-55 with 74-70.

Rickie Fowler moved up into the mix with the day’s low round of 8-under 63, which included nine birdies and is now T-8.

Cameron Young (68-70), a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR this year, shot 70 and is five shots back.

Thomas won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in 2017 and said he is feeling good this week.