Ryder Cup rookie Ludvig Åberg continued some of his confidence-dripping form, but it was recent PGA TOUR winner Akshay Bhatia, another young star on the rise, who stole plenty of attention in the opening round of the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Bhatia, who broke through in July at the Barracuda Championship, put forth a 6-under 66 at The Country Club of Jackson to be part of a seven-man tie for fourth, two shots behind leader Chesson Hadley.

But it was his refreshingly honest admission of dealing with anxiety since his win that raised eyebrows just as much as his seven-birdie effort. More on that later.

Hadley’s 8-under 64 led the way with Brandon Wu and Swede Henrik Norlander holding second place after rounds of 65.

Åberg, who I feared might be nursing a hangover from Team Europe celebrations in Italy, posted a tidy 5-under 67 to be right in the mix despite carding an early bogey and missing three birdie putts inside seven feet.

Having started as the pre-tournament favorite, Åberg remains at the top of the oddsmakers lists. Here are the latest odds from BetMGM Sportsbook after one round.

+800: Ludvig Åberg (-5, T11)

+1200: Chesson Hadley (-8, 1st)

+1400: Brandon Wu (-7, T2)

+1600: Akshay Bhatia (-6, T4); Luke List (-6, T4)

+2200: Adam Svensson (-5, T11)

+2500: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (-6, T4); Davis Thompson (-5, T11); Peter Malnati (-6, T4)

+2800: Beau Hossler (-4, T27)

+3000: Sam Ryder (-5, T11); Stephan Jaeger (-1, T92); Nicholas Lindheim (-5, T11), Ben Griffin (-5, T11).

With 64 players within five shots of the lead, this tournament remains wide open. Here are a few names I like from here and a few I have concerns with.

DRAWS

LUDVIG ÅBERG (+800, -5, T11)

The Ryder Cup rookie is clearly oozing confidence after winning the Omega European Masters in Switzerland on the DP World Tour recently and then being part of Europe’s Ryder Cup win. While I was not an advocate of his starting +1200 price pre-tournament as we waited to check on any possible jetlag or hangover, I’m now respecting the young star in a great position on this leaderboard.

He ranked second in the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+3.724), fourth Off-the-Tee and fifth Around-the-Green. His only major concern was putting where he missed three putts inside seven feet that would have seen him join the lead had they dropped.

Given he usually gains slightly on PGA TOUR fields in SG: Putting but lost almost a full shot on the greens (-0.870) on Thursday I’m thinking he can rebound.

“Going into the day, I was a bit tired, not going to lie, but I knew what I was capable of doing, and it was pretty cool to see that showing up,” Aberg said. “Physically I feel fine, to be honest. I thought it was going to be a little bit worse. … I'm going to have a quick dinner and make sure to get some rest. It's an early morning tomorrow morning, as well, so I'll make sure to try to conserve the energy as good as I can.”

AKSHAY BHATIA (+1600, -6 T4)

You might be wondering why I’m advocating a draw on a player who admitted to suffering from some anxiety recently and the answer is – I believe him when he says he’s processed it, acknowledges it and is tackling it head on.

Bhatia is pure talent and readers know I pushed him as a +5000-longshot option pre-tournament, so I’m not going to let his confidence facing his issues derail my faith.

Look – I can understand trepidation from others – especially when you see his 66 came via ranking third in SG: Putting, a stat he ranks 175th on the season. But I’m choosing to ride his wave.

“Just a lot of anxiety, a lot of stuff off the golf course that was really challenging, especially at my age. You just make a little bit of money and you have more eyes on you and then you just feel like you've got to make everyone happy. I got to a point where I wasn't making myself happy and I was trying to make everyone else happy,” the 21-year-old said.

“It's been hard ever since I won. Wyndham and Fortinet have been some tough weeks for me just off the golf course. It's just nice to come back here with a fresh mind, and I'm excited to kind of play this fall season and fine-tune my game.

“I've never had to deal with so much stuff going on off the golf course. You'd think after you win everything would be great, everything would feel a lot easier. But it's kind of quite opposite.

I'm still learning, especially at my age, but I've got a lot of time to kind of keep learning and keep persevering through any challenges that come into my life.”

SAM RYDER (+3000, -5, T11)

Those watching the Ryder Cup last week could have been forgiven for thinking Sam Ryder was a part of the U.S. Team, such was his airtime on the coverage.

Of course, Ryder has yet to check that box on his resume but was instead staring in one of his commercial deals with the American transport and logistics company that shares his last name.

And while his name was up in lights for many reasons during the contest at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Italy, it is now taking the limelight thanks to his performance on the golf course in Mississippi.

Avid readers would know I advocated Ryder as a top five contender this week before a ball was hit in anger so I’m not going to jump off him now. He is coming off a T14 at the Fortinet Championship where he ranked first in SG: Approach and third in SG: Tee to Green. His putter let him down in Napa but he ranks 12th on the season in SG: Putting and was second in SG: Putting in Jackson on Thursday.

FADES

CHESSON HADLEY (+1200, -8, 1st)

Look – let me just say I’m a huge Chesson Hadley fan. Every time I’ve had to deal with him in a professional capacity, he’s been sensational. But I have to admit I was surprised to see him surge to the top of this leaderboard.

Hadley got here with an awesome Tee-to-Green (+3.909) performance, leading the field. He was third in SG: Approach and a tidy 18th in SG: Putting.

The question mark for me is if Hadley can maintain that ball striking. He’s 145th on the season in SG: Tee-to-Green and each time he’s found himself in the mix in recent times he’s unfortunately let things slip.

I expect Hadley to hang around the top 25, but ultimately not win the title. If he proves me wrong, I hope he snaps his fingers right in my face.