DETROIT — Perhaps paying homage to Detroit and its roads, every damn road, the leaderboard after the first round of the PGA Tour's Rocket Mortgage Classic looked like a traffic jam.

Akshay Bhatia, trending in the right direction the previous three weeks, finished with two birdies and an eagle over his final three holes to put the exclamation point on an 8-under 64 on a chilly-turned-glorious Thursday at Detroit Golf Club. But one quick look in the rearview mirror, and he'll see a whole lot of company.

Bhatia leads by one stroke over Taylor Montgomery and Michael Kim at 7 under, and by two over a group of five at 6 under, including two of the biggest stars in the field, defending champion Rickie Fowler and Will Zalatoris. Eight players were at 5 under, and all told, 34 players were within four strokes of the lead after Round 1, including Michigan native Ryan Brehm at 4 under.

Bhatia, 22, ranked 29th in the world, is coming off finishes of tied for 22nd at the Memorial, tied for 16th at the U.S. Open and tied for fifth last week at the Travelers Championship. The Travelers and the Rocket are birdie blitzes.

"Played the U.S. Open. It was really hard. Then you come last week and this week, and you're making birdies," said Bhatia, seeking a third PGA Tour win, and second this season. "So you feel like it's pretty fun again."

A lot of guys had a whole lot of fun Thursday, including Aaron Rai, who like Fowler shot a bogey-free round for a 66, joining fellow 6-unders Eric Cole and Matti Schmid. Cameron Young, the second-highest-ranked player in the field at world No. 23, opened with a bogey-free 5-under 67, and was tied for the likes of Nick Dunlap, who won on the PGA Tour as an amateur earlier this year, and Neal Shipley, who was low amateur at the Masters and U.S. Open earlier this season before turning pro last week.

Shipley's round was highlighted by a 102-yard holeout for eagle at the par-4 first hole. Others at 5 under included Ben Kohles, Ben Silverman, Jhonattan Vegas, J.J. Spaun, Ben Griffin and Blaine Hale Jr.

Bhatia was 4 under through his first 15 holes, then made birdie on the par-4 16th, chipped in for eagle from in front of the green on the par-5 17th, and stiffed it from the rough at the par-4 18th. He seized the lead in the afternoon, while the course was firming up.

Montgomery, 29, also playing in the afternoon, and playing his first tournament since May because of torn labrums in both shoulders, opened with a first-nine 30, and played bogey-free, as well. In his previous five tournaments, he missed three cuts and withdrew twice because of the injury. He had no idea what to expect Thursday.

"I had no idea what I was getting into," said Montgomery, who had never played the Rocket before this week.

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