In the midst of a somewhat frustrating season, Akshay Bhatia is making a concerted effort to find peace on the golf course. Which is sort of like seeking a gourmet meal at a truck stop.

Although for one day, at least, he was successful.

Whether an eight-under 62 Thursday in the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship was the result of embracing a peaceful disposition or the cause of attaining it is unknown. But the slightly built left-hander was a picture of tranquillity during and after his assault on newly renovated TPC Southwind.

With seven birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey, Bhatia took advantage of an early starting time to seize the lead in the opening FedEx Cup playoff event. He was two clear of three players, one of whom was playing partner Harry Hall in the fourth group to start the day. Justin Rose and Bud Cauley joined Hall with 64s.

Bhatia, 23, hasn’t necessarily been struggling this year. He has three top-10 finishes, seven top-25s and came into the week 45th in the FedEx Cup standings, meaning he has started strong in his bid to remain among the top 50 and advance to next week’s BMW Championship.

However, apparently he has been tying himself up in knots focusing too much on stats and status and expectations, so he took it upon himself to initiate a mental reset two weeks ago at the 3M Open, where he found peace for 54 holes that gave him a share of the lead followed by a closing 75 that left him “furious.”

So how is the peace-finding mission going?

“Yeah, I haven’t done a great job,” he admitted. “I’ve been looking at a lot of numbers that I don’t need to look at, obviously, FedEx Cup, world ranking, and I’m still doing it, and I still catch myself doing it. But I’m just really trying to have a little more peace on the golf course.

“I think this game can consume your life, your happiness, and so I’m just trying to figure out ways to change that because I feel like I don’t really want to live my life based off of an unstable game. That’s going to drive me nuts. This whole year it has, so I’m just trying to be just a little more at ease with whatever I shoot.”

A 62 will put a man at ease. It marked his lowest round of the year and the lowest of his PGA Tour career. It also was his fifth consecutive sub-par score at TPC Southwind.

“I think certain days are easier than others, but again, it’s still very hard,” he said. “I felt like at 3M I did a nice job for three days and then Sunday was—I sat in my hotel room furious. It’s hard because I want to perform the way I know I can, and this year again hasn’t been the easiest. But I’m just trying to enjoy what I have and be grateful for what I get to do for a living.”

Bhatia said the key is to allow himself to be mad at a poor shot but not at himself, “which I tend to do.”

He is not alone.

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Main Image: David Cannon / Getty Images