Photo by Brennan Asplen/Getty Images
Bhatia watched as Denny McCarthy erased a six-shot deficit to force a playoff, but the youngster persevered and is headed to Augusta National.
Akshay Bhatia had to earn every bit of his first Masters bid Sunday at the Valero Texas Open.
He entered the day with a four-shot lead over Denny McCarthy and was feeling pretty confident. That was evident by his ‘wire to wire’ comment Bhatia wrote on his wrist prior to the final round.
Early on, it appeared as though it would be smooth sailing for the 22-year-old. It turned out to be anything but.
McCarthy went nuclear on the back nine, recording seven consecutive birdies to close his round and finish at 20-under. Bhatia suddenly needed to drain a lengthy birdie putt on 18 to force a playoff.
He did just that. However, the ensuing fist pump caused him to call for some medical help.
“I’ve had problems with that shoulder in the past… My shoulder came out of the socket when I went like this” Bhatia said after the round.
Despite partially dislocating his shoulder, Bhatia battled on.
On the first playoff hole, the golf gods found themselves on his side. McCarthy’s short chip on approach chunked and found water. That took some pressure off of Bhatia.
After having his shoulder worked on prior to his third shot on the par-5 18th, Bhatia hit a beautiful wedge spinning it back to five feet for birdie, essentially clinching the title.
With the win, Bhatia will indeed become the 89th player in this year’s Masters Tournament.
Lefties tend to play well at Augusta, and knowing how well the youngster is playing coming in, anything is possible. Then again, he’ll need that shoulder to get right real quick.
Kendall Capps is the Senior Editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social media platforms.
