Despite being a promising junior prodigy, he struggled to achieve success at the professional level. While able to win on the Korn Ferry tour, he still fell short of obtaining his PGA Tour card. Although eventually becoming a winner on the PGA Tour itself, he encountered roadblocks in gaining entry into his inaugural Masters tournament.
On Sunday, Akshay Bhatia undeniably proved his arrival; however, a minor controversy arose due to his shoulder injury.
Bhatia, who began the day with a four-shot lead and was playing great at four-under on the final hole of 72 holes, couldn’t believe what he saw as Denny McCarthy’s stellar performance whittled down his once comfortable six-shot advantage during the back nine. To seal his impressive comeback victory in style at Valero Texas Open, McCarthy made it seven consecutive birdies by sinking one last putt on the 18th green that left Bhatia helpless to intervene.
Although Bhatia mentioned that he had gone over every probable outcome, unforeseeable circumstances arose.
Remaining composed, he confidently approached the 12-foot distance and sank a shot to even McCarthy’s score at 20 under with an admirable round of 67 on Sunday. Unfortunately, it seems that while celebrating his success, he may have incurred an injury in his shoulder.
Upon approaching his third shot after taking a layup on the initial playoff hole, Bhatia was intercepted by his trainer who led him away from the media’s view in order to address an issue with his shoulder. According to Bhatia himself, he had experienced dislocation during the celebrations following completion of 72 holes.
Bhatia commented, “I’ve faced some problems with this shoulder. So when I made that putt and lifted my arm, it popped out of socket but went back in.”
Despite having 85 yards remaining for his third shot on the par-5, McCarthy was about to give him an opportunity.
The 10th-year veteran had a flawless day except for his third dunk on the playoff hole, falling just short of the green at only 100 yards in the creek.
McCarthy expressed regret, “If only I could retrieve that wedge shot. At the time, I had to back off multiple times due to a bug on my ball and commotion in the stands; moreover, another bug landed on my ball again. Maybe it was better if I stepped away once more but instead tried not letting these distractions bother me – though perhaps they did affect me slightly.”
After Bhatia tended to his injured shoulder following a session with his trainer, he was able to successfully hit his third shot.
He expressed gratitude towards his trainer, stating that he was fortunate enough to be in their presence as they accessed and mended the injury. As a result of this action, hitting that wedge shot felt invigoratingly pleasant. He concluded by affirming how much he respects and values his trainer’s support throughout the ordeal.
He sealed his second Tour win by stuffing it to six feet. As the last qualifier, Bhatia’s victory secures his entry into the Masters and makes him the sixth player in seven years to qualify for this major tournament after winning their final start prior to its commencement.
Bhatia expressed that his dream has become a reality. He wasn’t sure what to anticipate this week, but playing multiple times helped him feel more at ease.
As a kid, Augusta National is every person’s dream destination. It doesn’t matter if one is attending as a patron, player or caddie – the experience of being there and feeling its aura at such an early age was simply fantastic!
On Saturday night, the 22-year-old expressed that while winning would be fantastic for him, his focus was on what benefits it could yield.
He stated that while it doesn’t hold immense significance to him, winning gets him nearer to his objective. His aspiration since childhood has always been about emerging victorious in major championships rather than just PGA Tour events.
On Sunday, he was fully devoted to the task ahead. He spent the past year achieving remarkable success; he transformed from holding Korn Ferry status and becoming a special temporary member on the PGA Tour to winning as a PGA Tour player. Along with it, Bhatia has improved his mental game by including a sports psychologist in his team.
Before each round, he now writes a message to himself on his wrist as one of the things he does.
What was the message on Sunday? It was “WTW,” which stands for wire-to-wire. The player held the lead throughout every round of the tournament, starting with a score of 63 on Thursday. This win marks the first time someone has achieved a wire-to-wire victory in Tour since Lee Hodges at the 2023 3M Open.
“I imagined a straight wire running from the first hole to the 72nd hole and made sure to follow that as closely as possible. My caddie did an amazing job of reminding me about it,” Bhatia explained.
Bhatia’s journey has been a lengthy one, commencing from his professional debut at the age of 17 in 2019. However, it was not until three years later that he obtained Korn Ferry status. While Bhatia succeeded on his initial outing as a KFT member by clinching victory, he did not attain eligibility for PGA Tour membership during that year. Nonetheless, last year saw him acquire more starts on the said tour and eventually seize triumph at the Barracuda Championship held under less intense competition standards. It counted as an official win yet did not secure Bhatia entry into The Masters event.
Throughout the round, Bhatia dominated and regained his form after a lone bogey on the 10th hole by successfully sinking an impressive birdie putt from 18 feet away at the following hole.
Bhatia held a significant lead of seven shots over all other players at the start, but McCarthy emerged as his closest competitor on the back nine. Thanks to an exceptional performance in putting that set a new Tour record, McCarthy scored birdies on the 10th and several consecutive holes thereafter until he reached the clubhouse. This brought him level with Bhatia’s score, setting up a thrilling finale whereby both players laid up their approach shots on hole 18 before making crucial birdies to determine who would emerge victorious between them – essentially turning it into two-horse race for supremacy.
“Do you feel like you’re falling behind?” Bhatia asked. “Despite the fact that this guy is consistently making birdies and I haven’t made any mistakes, we were tied for first place going into the final round.”
McCarthy equaled the PGA Tour’s record for fewest putts over 72 holes by making his final shot, which was a 13-foot putt on the last hole. This was his 92nd Putt of the week. Dan Hicks from NBC play-by-play remarked that to maintain an average of only23.3 putts per round throughout this tourney; McCarthy needed one-putt in each one of his five closing greens and he masterfully managed even better than expected as he scored a birdie thanks to chipping in at Hole no:15th
Despite shooting the lowest round of the day by three shots with a 63, McCarthy was unable to win his first Tour title.
World No. 1 and World No. 3 players finished with a gap of nine shots ahead of third place, which was secured by Rory McIlroy at the end of the final round with a score of 66.
