Owings Mills (US), Aug 15 (PTI) Indian-American golfer Akshay Bhatia, who is looking to make the Tour Championship for the second straight year, struggled to 5-over 75 and was placed tied-46th among the 49 starters at the BMW Championship, the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs here. Bhatia struggled to find rhythm as he started on the front nine and dropped a shot on the fifth and then a double bogey on the sixth. A birdie on the ninth reduced the damage but he dropped shots on 12th, 14th and 16th holes that saw him finish at 75. Bhatia, who entered the week sitting on the edge of the Top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings, needs to move up the leaderboard and secure his place at East Lake for the Tour Championship. Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre was in great form a the Caves Valley Golf Club as he finished with a spectacular closing stretch, carding an 8-under 62 to seize a three-shot lead after the first round. MacIntyre’s day began on the front nine with a birdie on the first and a bogey on the second. He also birdied the fourth and the seventh and ended the front nine at 2-under. The fireworks started on the back nine. He birdied the 11th and gave back that shot on the 12th. Standing at 2-under through 12 holes, the left-hander had a remarkable run of six consecutive birdies from the 13th to 18th, including a 66-foot putt on the 15th that had the crowd roaring. The 28-year-old’s final tally put him three clear of England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who signed for a bogey-free 65. Fleetwood sits second at 5-under with five birdies and no bogeys. It was a nice start for Fleetwood, too, particularly after another tough finish last week when he had a two-shot lead with three holes to play and finished one shot out of a playoff at the FedEx St Jude Championship in his bid for his first PGA TOUR title. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler was tied for the lead when he returned from the storm delay and birdied three of his final four holes for a 66. He was third. Scheffler made a late push with birdies on the 15th, 16th, and 18th after a two-hour weather delay softened the greens. Scheffler had opened birdie-birdie and added a third on the fourth. He gave away back-to-back bogeys on the ninth and the 10th. Then he made another move on the last four holes which had three birdies. There was a storm interruption and it proved advantageous for many, including Scheffler. Viktor Hovland, Ben Griffin and Rickie Fowler were another shot behind at 67. Other notable names in the field include Rory McIlroy (70) and defending champion Patrick Cantlay, who shot 72. The BMW Championship is limited to the top-50 in the FedEx Cup standings. Every shot counts as players chase not just the USD 20 million purse but a coveted berth in the season finale. PTI Cor SSC SSC SSC