Dramatic second win in playoff for Akshay Bhatia

The American earned a place at The Masters despite damaging his shoulder as he celebrated clinching a playoff spot.

Akshay Bhatia started the day with a four-shot lead but lost it to fellow American Denny McCarthy who birdied eight of the back nine holes for a 63 on Sunday at the Valero Texas Open.

Bhatia made a 12-foot birdie putt at the 18th to close with a 67 and force a playoff but felt his shoulder pop out of its socket as he raised his arms in celebration. He had his shoulder taped before hitting his wedge to six feet and holing to clinch victory on the first extra hole.

“I just stuck to my game plan,” said Bhatia. “I played great today, I kind of got the goal that I had in mind today. And Denny played unbelievable. You’ve got to give him credit. It’s hard because he’s one of the best putters out here and when you see him get hot, it’s scary because I had a six-shot lead going into the back nine and all of a sudden we’re tied going into 18. Of course he makes that putt and man, what a crazy day.

“So this shoulder I’ve had some issues with and yeah, when I made that putt and I kind of raised my arm, it kind of came out of socket and went back in. Thankfully [my trainer] was still around and taped it up good and it felt good hitting that wedge shot. I appreciate Aki very much.”

Bhatia clinched a place at The Masters with his second PGA Tour victory, which had seemed a lot more straightforward when he held a six-shot lead heading into the final nine holes.

Despite holding the outright lead after the first three rounds and a share of the lead at the end of regulation, the victory isn’t considered an official wire-to-wire win since it went to a playoff.

The 22-year-old will become the first finalist from the Drive, Chip and Putt event to return to Augusta to play in The Masters.

Rory McIlroy was a distant third, nine shots adrift, as he completed his Masters warm-up with a bogey-free 66.

Pos.PlayerTo ParR1R2R3R4Total
1Akshay Bhatia-2063706867268
2Denny McCarthy-2068706763268
3Rory McIlroy-1169707266277
4Russell Henley-1069697169278
T5Adam Schenk-971697267279
T5Brendon Todd-966727071279
T7Hideki Matsuyama-873706671280
T7Ben Martin-871717068280
T7Tommy Fleetwood-871697268280
T10Mac Meissner-672736869282
T10Jordan Spieth-673687269282
T10Matt Fitzpatrick-671747067282
T10Peter Kuest-669717468282
T14Adam Scott-573707070283
T14Ludvig Åberg-572716773283
T14Keith Mitchell-575697069283
T14Sam Stevens-572717169283
T14Andrew Putnam-572707170283
T14S.H. Kim-573717366283
T14Rico Hoey-571716972283
T14Chan Kim-570727269283
T14Tyson Alexander-568767168283
T14Alex Noren-573726672283
T14Thorbjørn Olesen-572697171283
T25Justin Lower-466777170284
T25Christiaan Bezuidenhout-473716971284
T25Max Homa-468747270284
T25Brian Harman-471737268284
T25Lucas Glover-470727072284
T25Mark Hubbard-473687172284
T25Corey Conners-470717568284
T25Nick Hardy-471707271284
T33Alexander Björk-370737072285
T33Garrick Higgo-372717369285
T33Chez Reavie-375687270285
T33Kevin Chappell-369737469285
T33Austin Eckroat-368747370285
T33Robby Shelton-371707668285
T39Nate Lashley-272727369286
T39Ben Griffin-269747469286
T39Stewart Cink-273696975286
T39Bud Cauley-274716972286
T39Aaron Baddeley-272707470286
T39Kevin Yu-272737467286
T45Davis Thompson-170737371287
T45Kevin Streelman-171727569287
T45Victor Perez-172707570287
T45Ryan Moore-170717373287
T45Webb Simpson-173677572287
T45Vincent Norrman-172737072287
T51C.T. PanPar71727372288
T51Adam SvenssonPar69757767288
T51Joe HighsmithPar73717272288
T51Lanto GriffinPar75707667288
T51Tyler DuncanPar71717472288
T51Martin LairdPar71717373288
T51J.J. SpaunPar73727568288
T58Josh Teater+172727075289
T58Harry Hall+173717570289
T58Andrew Novak+173717075289
T58Bronson Burgoon+169737572289
T58Parker Coody+172726976289
T58Aaron Rai+172737470289
T58Maverick McNealy+171747470289
T58Carl Yuan+175707173289
T58David Lipsky+171747470289
T58Dylan Wu+172737371289
T58Hayden Springer+169767569289
T69Charley Hoffman+272707771290
T69Vince Whaley+273716977290
T69Matti Schmid+269727376290
T72Kevin Kisner+374707473291
T72Brandt Snedeker+376697571291
74Pierceson Coody+471717773292
T75Tom Whitney+572727574293
T75Collin Morikawa+570747574293
T75Nicolai Højgaard+572737474293
T78Ben Kohles+674717673294
T78Beau Hossler+674717574294
T78Ryo Hisatsune+671747277294
81Ben Silverman+771727973295
82Ryan McCormick+1072738073298
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 8, 2024