Akshay Bhatia closing in on second title at the Valero Texas Open

He takes a four-shot lead into Sunday.

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.

Texas Open Golf
Akshay Bhatia watches his tee shot on the first hole during the third round (Eric Gay/AP)

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.

Pos.PlayerTo ParR1R2R3Total
1Akshay Bhatia-15637068201
2Denny McCarthy-11687067205
3Brendon Todd-8667270208
T4Hideki Matsuyama-7737066209
T4Russell Henley-7696971209
6Ludvig Åberg-6727167210
T7Rico Hoey-5717169211
T7Stewart Cink-5736969211
T7Alex Noren-5737266211
T7Rory McIlroy-5697072211
T11Lucas Glover-4707270212
T11Ben Martin-4717170212
T11Mark Hubbard-4736871212
T11Thorbjørn Olesen-4726971212
T11Adam Schenk-4716972212
T11Tommy Fleetwood-4716972212
T17Alexander Björk-3707370213
T17Adam Scott-3737070213
T17Andrew Putnam-3727071213
T17Christiaan Bezuidenhout-3737169213
T17Vince Whaley-3737169213
T17Parker Coody-3727269213
T17Mac Meissner-3727368213
T17Jordan Spieth-3736872213
T17Nick Hardy-3717072213
T26Justin Lower-2667771214
T26Keith Mitchell-2756970214
T26Sam Stevens-2727171214
T26Josh Teater-2727270214
T26Max Homa-2687472214
T26Chan Kim-2707272214
T26Andrew Novak-2737170214
T26Bud Cauley-2747169214
T26Ryan Moore-2707173214
T26Matti Schmid-2697273214
T26Peter Kuest-2697174214
T37Chez Reavie-1756872215
T37Tyson Alexander-1687671215
T37Austin Eckroat-1687473215
T37Martin Laird-1717173215
T37Matt Fitzpatrick-1717470215
T37Webb Simpson-1736775215
T37Vincent Norrman-1727370215
T44C.T. PanPar717273216
T44Davis ThompsonPar707373216
T44Garrick HiggoPar727173216
T44Kevin ChappellPar697374216
T44Brian HarmanPar717372216
T44Joe HighsmithPar737172216
T44Aaron BaddeleyPar727074216
T44Tyler DuncanPar717174216
T44Corey ConnersPar707175216
T44Carl YuanPar757071216
T54Nate Lashley+1727273217
T54Ben Griffin+1697474217
T54S.H. Kim+1737173217
T54Victor Perez+1727075217
T54Bronson Burgoon+1697375217
T54Robby Shelton+1717076217
T54Ryo Hisatsune+1717472217
T61Kevin Streelman+2717275218
T61Kevin Kisner+2747074218
T61Dylan Wu+2727373218
T64Charley Hoffman+3727077219
T64Harry Hall+3737175219
T64Tom Whitney+3727275219
T64Pierceson Coody+3717177219
T64Collin Morikawa+3707475219
T64Kevin Yu+3727374219
T64Aaron Rai+3727374219
T64Maverick McNealy+3717474219
T64Nicolai Højgaard+3727374219
T64David Lipsky+3717474219
T74Brandt Snedeker+4766975220
T74J.J. Spaun+4737275220
T74Beau Hossler+4747175220
T74Hayden Springer+4697675220
T78Adam Svensson+5697577221
T78Lanto Griffin+5757076221
T78Ben Kohles+5747176221
81Ben Silverman+6717279222
82Ryan McCormick+9727380225
CUTJacob Bridgeman+27472-146
CUTZach Johnson+27076-146
CUTCallum Tarren+27274-146
CUTChesson Hadley+27373-146
CUTWilson Furr+27274-146
CUTBen Taylor+27274-146
CUTErik van Rooyen+27076-146
CUTErik Barnes+27373-146
CUTChad Ramey+27274-146
CUTHarrison Endycott+27076-146
CUTMatt Kuchar+37374-147
CUTPaul Barjon+37374-147
CUTDoug Ghim+37176-147
CUTNorman Xiong+37275-147
CUTRoger Sloan+37473-147
CUTLee Hodges+37374-147
CUTGrayson Murray+37275-147
CUTPatrick Fishburn+37473-147
CUTMichael Kim+37374-147
CUTRyan Brehm+37572-147
CUTCarson Young+37770-147
CUTBrandon Wu+37671-147
CUTCamilo Villegas+37176-147
CUTJoseph Bramlett+37275-147
CUTChandler Phillips+37176-147
CUTJorge Campillo+47078-148
CUTJhonattan Vegas+47375-148
CUTJimmy Walker+47474-148
CUTHayden Buckley+47375-148
CUTTroy Merritt+47177-148
CUTEric Cole+47474-148
CUTRickie Fowler+47672-148
CUTBilly Horschel+47573-148
CUTKevin Dougherty+47276-148
CUTJimmy Stanger+57475-149
CUTByeong Hun An+57475-149
CUTHarris English+57277-149
CUTJ.B. Holmes+57079-149
CUTRyan Fox+57079-149
CUTGreyson Sigg+57376-149
CUTChris Gotterup+57673-149
CUTAlex Smalley+57475-149
CUTTaylor Pendrith+57178-149
CUTScott Gutschewski+67773-150
CUTPadraig Harrington+67575-150
CUTNicholas Lindheim+67377-150
CUTDavis Riley+67575-150
CUTSeamus Power+67377-150
CUTRyan Palmer+67575-150
CUTTom Kim+77378-151
CUTJoe Sullivan(a)+77576-151
CUTJoel Dahmen+77477-151
CUTRaul Pereda+77477-151
CUTLuke Donald+87775-152
CUTAdrien Dumont de Chassart+87577-152
CUTK.H. Lee+87775-152
CUTBlaine Hale, Jr.+88369-152
CUTDavid Skinns+87577-152
CUTMax Greyserman+87775-152
CUTAdam Long+87775-152
CUTRafael Campos+87676-152
CUTCameron Champ+97776-153
CUTZac Blair+97875-153
CUTAlejandro Tosti+107579-154
CUTAlex Welch+107876-154
CUTMatt NeSmith+117976-155
CUTBen Willman+117976-155
CUTAndrew Landry+127779-156
CUTSam Ryder+138077-157
CUTNico Echavarria+158277-159
CUTTom Adrounie+208777-164
W/DPatrick Rodgers-78--78
W/DTrace Crowe-79--79
W/DTaylor Montgomery-81--81
Updated: April 7, 2024