Masters debut inside Akshay Bhatia’s grasp amid Texas Open mastery

Akshay Bhatia has waltzed round TPC San Antonio like he owns the place, enjoying beautifully from tee to inexperienced to grab management of the Valero Texas Open.

But, he known as Friday’s spherical, by which he carded a 2-under 70, “worrying.”

“I felt like I struggled rather a lot off the tee right now. Golf swing didn’t really feel nice with any of the longer stuff, however iron play was nonetheless phenomenal, wedges have been good, made some good putts,” Bhatia stated.

“I do know I’m studying the greens very well, so I perceive after I’m lacking putts proper now and why that’s occurring. So [I have] a very good understanding of the place I would like to enhance the following couple of days.”

Bhatia, who shot a 9-under 63 on Thursday, sits at 11-under par by way of 36 holes and holds a commanding lead going into the weekend. Bhatia, the winner of final yr’s Barracuda Championship—the alternate occasion performed alongside The Open—now has a golden alternative.

Photograph by Raj Mehta/Getty Photographs

Ought to he go on to win, he would earn the final spot within the subject at Augusta Nationwide, marking a full-circle second for him. Ten years in the past, Bhatia starred within the inaugural Drive, Chip, and Putt Nationwide Finals, an occasion created by Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership that showcases a number of the finest junior golfers within the nation.

The California native tied for sixth that week, however now he’s midway to competing in The Masters, an occasion he has lengthy sought to play in.

However Bhatia revealed after his spherical Friday that he has struggled with nervousness previously, and holding a 36-hole at a PGA Tour occasion—with a visit to Augusta on the road—would make anybody anxious.

“I do know I can play nicely on this golf course. One shot at a time, it’s arduous to do,” Bhatia stated.

“I do know lots of people can say they will try this, nevertheless it’s actually arduous to do and take into consideration one shot. So, all in all, it’s a troublesome golf course, worrying golf course. I stated to everybody on my group, ‘It’s a troublesome observe, you all the time really feel such as you’re in your toes, and also you’ve acquired to hit some actually high quality pictures,’ and hopefully, I can try this this weekend.”

Photograph by Raj Mehta/Getty Photographs

Bhatia had a shaky begin on the dogleg proper, par-4 tenth gap Friday. He pushed his tee shot nicely left into some thick grass, an eye-opening miss for the first-round chief. However he discovered his ball, hit an important shot on the inexperienced, and drained the birdie putt. Bam! Like that, Bhatia put a nervy shot behind him, and turned a poor begin right into a stable one.

“You’re going to battle adversity out right here, and I knew that from the beginning,” Bhatia stated.

“I hit it left off the tee on 10, and I stated, there it’s, there’s the adversity. I simply needed to battle right now.”

In contrast to Thursday, Bhatia needed to struggle arduous on Friday. After his birdie at 10, Bhatia stumbled on the eleventh after which made one other bogey on the par-4 fifteenth.

However he knew Friday would show rather more difficult than his opening spherical.

“It’s completely different as a result of you might have expectations like, ‘Oh, I simply shot 9-under, so can I simply try this once more.’ It’s not doable,” Bhatia stated.

“This golf course is so arduous. The wind was rather a lot trickier right now. Greens are getting firmer and firmer, even within the morning. I simply need to tempo myself and attempt to execute.”

Regardless of not driving the ball nicely in any respect, Bhatia managed to execute properly on TPC San Antonio’s entrance facet—his again 9 on Friday. He made birdies on the 2nd, seventh, and eighth to shoot a 3-under 33 on his closing 9.

On a day when the wind howled as much as 30 miles per hour, Bhatia is sitting fairly halfway by way of the championship, regardless of his struggles off the tee.

Now, he will get to calm down on Friday evening along with his fiancee, Presleigh, because the couple will rejoice their third anniversary with takeout. He’s going to take issues someday at a time, one step at a time like he all the time has, and if he continues to take action, a visit to Georgia is perhaps within the works.

Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Taking part in Via. Make sure to try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.