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Akshay Bhatia emerged victorious in the Valero Texas Open which concluded on Sunday (April 7). He trumped the likes of Denny McCarthy and Rory Mcllroy to record his second PGA Tour victory.
Bhatia, who was ranked 87th in the Official World Golf Rankings, jumped to 34th after winning the tournament. He clinched victory with a birdie on the par-5 18th hole in the playoffs at The Oaks Course at the TPC San Antonio. He commanded a lead of three, five, and four strokes, respectively, after the initial three rounds.
Bhatia benefitted from the late early draw, yielding an average score nearly two strokes lower over the first 36 holes compared to McCarthy's early-late draw. Bhatia used golf equipment from various golf manufacturers to win the event. The American golfer played with a Callaway Rogue ST Max LS driver with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X shaft. He entrusted his fairway game to the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max.
When finesse was paramount around the greens, Bhatia used Callaway Jaws Raw and the Odyssey putter. He had Iomic Grips for his clubs and a SuperStroke Zenergy Split grip for his putter.
The equipment used by Bhatia to fire a final round, six-birdie 67 with an 11-foot putt for birdie on the last hole are:
Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X (43 inches, tipped 1.5)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW prototype (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees), Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 125 S+
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)
Shafts: KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X
Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Split
Grips: Iomic
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour
Bhatia had the odds of +5500 to win the tournament without the playoffs. The last round of the Valero Texas Open for Bhatia was through ups and downs, where he finished with an overall score of 20-under alongside McCarthy.
Bhatia also got injured celebrating the birdie that secured him the playoff spot. He had to get treatment but won on the very first hole of the playoff.
Akshay Bhatia's main focus is winning the Majors
Akshay Bhatia won prize money of $1.6 million from the pool of $9.2 million doled out to everyone who made the cut at the Valero Texas Open. He also earned 500 FedExCup points and clinched the final spot in the upcoming prestigious Masters tournament and the first Majors of the season.
After the third round, the American golfer said that a win at the Valero Texas Open would get him closer to his goal of winning a Majors. He will now be going to Augusta National for the first time in his career. He said that winning PGA Tour events is just the first step for him:
"I didn't grow up playing on the PGA Tour necessarily to win just PGA Tour events, I grew up playing and dreaming of winning Majors. That's kind of my main focus for the years to come."
It'll be interesting to see if Akshay Bhatia can turn the tables around and surprise the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm to win the first Major of his career. Before this, the 22-year-old California native participated in the 2021 US Open, where he finished T57.
