When Akshay Bhatia skipped college and turned professional in 2019, he did so with visions of becoming a PGA Tour winner.
The 22-year-old Bhatia has won twice in the last 12 months and got off to a fast start in pursuit of a third on Thursday. He pitched in for eagle at 17 to shoot 8-under 64 at Detroit Golf Club and take the first-round lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.
It marked his third round of 64 or better in his last five rounds after doing so just three times in his prior 61 rounds. Bhatia finished T-5 last week at the Travelers Championship, his 10th top-25 finish this season, and played the final two rounds in the same group with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler for the first time.
“It was a really cool experience for me. I got to see what it’s like. He’s just something different. I think everyone’s trying to chase what he’s doing but he makes the game look easy,” Bhatia said.
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And Bhatia is looking forward to another week of being in the hunt. “This is what I dreamt about for a while was trying to chase those feelings of feeling your heart pump and feeling your hands shake and all the adrenaline,” he said. “It’s something that I love so much.”
This week he’s the top dog in the field — at least based on this season’s FedEx Cup points standings. He entered the week 15th in the FedEx Cup and ranked No. 29 in the Official World Golf Ranking, proving that his unconventional path to the PGA Tour was the right one for him.
“It feels like everything is coming together,” said Bhatia, who won the Valero Texas Open in April. Bhatia was just 2 under through 11 holes when he holed an 11-foot birdie at No. 12. Bhatia hit 17 greens and ranked third in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green. He capped off his back-nine birdie-fest with a 6-foot putt at 18 to shoot 30 on the inward nine. His bogey-free 64 was a stroke better than Taylor Montgomery and Michael Kim.
Here are five more things to know from the Rocket Mortgage Classic.