Ten years after competing in the Drive, Chip and Putt event at Augusta National, Akshay Bhatia on Sunday became the first participant in the youth competition to qualify for the Masters, earning the last available spot in this week’s championship in a brilliantly unlikely way.
Having led the Valero Texas Open since Thursday, Bhatia saw a six-stroke lead vanish over the final holes at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks course as Denny McCarthy turned in an extraordinary finishing kick, birdieing his last seven holes in regulation to force a sudden-death playoff with Bhatia.
How unlikely was it?
Bhatia led by four starting the final round, shot a 5-under-par 67 on Sunday for a 20-under 268 total and needed extra holes to win.
“Man, what a crazy day,” said the 22-year-old Bhatia, who earned $1.656 million from the $9.2 million purse and the trip to Augusta. He won the 2023 Barracuda Championship, but because it is an opposite-field event it did not come with an automatic Masters spot.
McCarthy, chasing his first PGA Tour win, tied a tour record by needing only 92 putts on 72 holes, and his 8-under 28 on the back nine was nearly flawless. He holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole in regulation, forcing Bhatia to make an 11-foot birdie putt to extend the tournament.
As spectacular as McCarthy’s closing nine holes were, his mistake on the first extra hole was perhaps equally dramatic.
What appeared to be a routine wedge shot into the 18th green instead turned into a disaster when he pull-chunked it into a creek fronting the green, clearing the way for Bhatia, who had his own bit of drama in the playoff.
“Wish I could have had that wedge shot back there,” McCarthy said. “I backed off a couple times. There was a bug on my ball and some noise in the stands, and a bug jumped back on my ball. I probably should have backed away again, but I thought I could kind of not let it distract me, and maybe it did a little. Maybe a learning experience for me, but all in all I handled myself really well today.”
Having dealt with being run down by McCarthy over the previous two hours, Bhatia injured his left shoulder celebrating his birdie on the 72nd hole to force the playoff. After McCarthy’s mistake in the playoff and before he played his third shot, Bhatia received treatment from a physical therapist, who taped his shoulder.
He then floated his third shot in tight and finished off a victory that came in the most uncommon way.
“I played great. I got to the goal I had in mind,” Bhatia said of the 20-under total. “Denny played unbelievably. He’s one of the best out here.”
Bhatia took an unconventional path to the PGA Tour, electing to bypass college. He turned professional as a 17-year-old and has gradually played his way into becoming a two-time tour winner.
Before each round, Bhatia writes a message on his left wrist. On Saturday, he wrote “race my race.” On Sunday, he inscribed the initials “WTW,” meaning “wire to wire.”
“I'm just going at my own pace, focusing on myself, keeping the blinders right in front of me,” Bhatia said. “I look at that all the time because you can get caught up in a lot of things out here, and if I'm just kind of doing my own thing and trying not to let outside stuff bother me, then I just can focus on myself and whatever the outcome is, it is.”
Ron Green Jr.