Akshay Bhatia carded a 68 featuring six birdies and two bogeys on Saturday at the Valero Texas Open to reach 15-under and take a four-shot lead into the final day, edging closer to his second PGA victory.

“Hit it a lot more solid today,” said the American. “A lot of toe balls and heel cuts yesterday and today I hit it a lot more solid off the tee. Swing felt a little better and I think just playing in the morning versus a little later helps as well, adrenaline as well.

“A couple short, you know, a couple short game shots that I wish I could have probably executed a little bit better, but you’re never going to get everything up and down. I stayed patient all day today, hit a lot
of good putts. Speed was a little better today, which was nice. I made a lot of those key three-, four-, five-footers.

“I was never calm today and it was the hardest thing to deal with. It’s just so hard, you feel so tense and all these things in your stomach, your mind can kind of go one way. I kept to my game plan. I tried to talk as much as I could to my caddie. That wait on 18 was honestly a blessing in disguise, just kind of relaxing a little bit, not worrying too much about that tee shot. I played it pretty nicely.”

If Bhatia is to win, it will extend his PGA Tour card and give him the green light to play next week’s Masters.

Bhatia qualified for and made the cut at Torrey Pines, the 2021 US Open, and won last season’s Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California.

Aside from that, the 22-year-old has not participated in any other major championships.

Fellow American Denny McCarthy is in second place at 11-under.

US golfer Brendon Todd is trailing behind him by another three shots while Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and American Russell Henley sit at five-under.

Swedish golf star Ludvig Åberg sits at six-under at Valero alongside four players who round out the top 10 on the leaderboard with a score of five-under.