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.

Related: A record 24th Masters cut could be considered a win for Tiger Woods according to Andy North
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akshay Bhatia | -20 | 63 | 70 | 68 | 67 | 268 |
| 2 | Denny McCarthy | -20 | 68 | 70 | 67 | 63 | 268 |
| 3 | Rory McIlroy | -11 | 69 | 70 | 72 | 66 | 277 |
| 4 | Russell Henley | -10 | 69 | 69 | 71 | 69 | 278 |
| T5 | Adam Schenk | -9 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 67 | 279 |
| T5 | Brendon Todd | -9 | 66 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 279 |
| T7 | Hideki Matsuyama | -8 | 73 | 70 | 66 | 71 | 280 |
| T7 | Ben Martin | -8 | 71 | 71 | 70 | 68 | 280 |
| T7 | Tommy Fleetwood | -8 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 68 | 280 |
| T10 | Mac Meissner | -6 | 72 | 73 | 68 | 69 | 282 |
| T10 | Jordan Spieth | -6 | 73 | 68 | 72 | 69 | 282 |
| T10 | Matt Fitzpatrick | -6 | 71 | 74 | 70 | 67 | 282 |
| T10 | Peter Kuest | -6 | 69 | 71 | 74 | 68 | 282 |
| T14 | Adam Scott | -5 | 73 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 283 |
| T14 | Ludvig Åberg | -5 | 72 | 71 | 67 | 73 | 283 |
| T14 | Keith Mitchell | -5 | 75 | 69 | 70 | 69 | 283 |
| T14 | Sam Stevens | -5 | 72 | 71 | 71 | 69 | 283 |
| T14 | Andrew Putnam | -5 | 72 | 70 | 71 | 70 | 283 |
| T14 | S.H. Kim | -5 | 73 | 71 | 73 | 66 | 283 |
| T14 | Rico Hoey | -5 | 71 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 283 |
| T14 | Chan Kim | -5 | 70 | 72 | 72 | 69 | 283 |
| T14 | Tyson Alexander | -5 | 68 | 76 | 71 | 68 | 283 |
| T14 | Alex Noren | -5 | 73 | 72 | 66 | 72 | 283 |
| T14 | Thorbjørn Olesen | -5 | 72 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 283 |
| T25 | Justin Lower | -4 | 66 | 77 | 71 | 70 | 284 |
| T25 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -4 | 73 | 71 | 69 | 71 | 284 |
| T25 | Max Homa | -4 | 68 | 74 | 72 | 70 | 284 |
| T25 | Brian Harman | -4 | 71 | 73 | 72 | 68 | 284 |
| T25 | Lucas Glover | -4 | 70 | 72 | 70 | 72 | 284 |
| T25 | Mark Hubbard | -4 | 73 | 68 | 71 | 72 | 284 |
| T25 | Corey Conners | -4 | 70 | 71 | 75 | 68 | 284 |
| T25 | Nick Hardy | -4 | 71 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 284 |
| T33 | Alexander Björk | -3 | 70 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 285 |
| T33 | Garrick Higgo | -3 | 72 | 71 | 73 | 69 | 285 |
| T33 | Chez Reavie | -3 | 75 | 68 | 72 | 70 | 285 |
| T33 | Kevin Chappell | -3 | 69 | 73 | 74 | 69 | 285 |
| T33 | Austin Eckroat | -3 | 68 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 285 |
| T33 | Robby Shelton | -3 | 71 | 70 | 76 | 68 | 285 |
| T39 | Nate Lashley | -2 | 72 | 72 | 73 | 69 | 286 |
| T39 | Ben Griffin | -2 | 69 | 74 | 74 | 69 | 286 |
| T39 | Stewart Cink | -2 | 73 | 69 | 69 | 75 | 286 |
| T39 | Bud Cauley | -2 | 74 | 71 | 69 | 72 | 286 |
| T39 | Aaron Baddeley | -2 | 72 | 70 | 74 | 70 | 286 |
| T39 | Kevin Yu | -2 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 67 | 286 |
| T45 | Davis Thompson | -1 | 70 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 287 |
| T45 | Kevin Streelman | -1 | 71 | 72 | 75 | 69 | 287 |
| T45 | Victor Perez | -1 | 72 | 70 | 75 | 70 | 287 |
| T45 | Ryan Moore | -1 | 70 | 71 | 73 | 73 | 287 |
| T45 | Webb Simpson | -1 | 73 | 67 | 75 | 72 | 287 |
| T45 | Vincent Norrman | -1 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 287 |
| T51 | C.T. Pan | Par | 71 | 72 | 73 | 72 | 288 |
| T51 | Adam Svensson | Par | 69 | 75 | 77 | 67 | 288 |
| T51 | Joe Highsmith | Par | 73 | 71 | 72 | 72 | 288 |
| T51 | Lanto Griffin | Par | 75 | 70 | 76 | 67 | 288 |
| T51 | Tyler Duncan | Par | 71 | 71 | 74 | 72 | 288 |
| T51 | Martin Laird | Par | 71 | 71 | 73 | 73 | 288 |
| T51 | J.J. Spaun | Par | 73 | 72 | 75 | 68 | 288 |
| T58 | Josh Teater | +1 | 72 | 72 | 70 | 75 | 289 |
| T58 | Harry Hall | +1 | 73 | 71 | 75 | 70 | 289 |
| T58 | Andrew Novak | +1 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 75 | 289 |
| T58 | Bronson Burgoon | +1 | 69 | 73 | 75 | 72 | 289 |
| T58 | Parker Coody | +1 | 72 | 72 | 69 | 76 | 289 |
| T58 | Aaron Rai | +1 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 70 | 289 |
| T58 | Maverick McNealy | +1 | 71 | 74 | 74 | 70 | 289 |
| T58 | Carl Yuan | +1 | 75 | 70 | 71 | 73 | 289 |
| T58 | David Lipsky | +1 | 71 | 74 | 74 | 70 | 289 |
| T58 | Dylan Wu | +1 | 72 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 289 |
| T58 | Hayden Springer | +1 | 69 | 76 | 75 | 69 | 289 |
| T69 | Charley Hoffman | +2 | 72 | 70 | 77 | 71 | 290 |
| T69 | Vince Whaley | +2 | 73 | 71 | 69 | 77 | 290 |
| T69 | Matti Schmid | +2 | 69 | 72 | 73 | 76 | 290 |
| T72 | Kevin Kisner | +3 | 74 | 70 | 74 | 73 | 291 |
| T72 | Brandt Snedeker | +3 | 76 | 69 | 75 | 71 | 291 |
| 74 | Pierceson Coody | +4 | 71 | 71 | 77 | 73 | 292 |
| T75 | Tom Whitney | +5 | 72 | 72 | 75 | 74 | 293 |
| T75 | Collin Morikawa | +5 | 70 | 74 | 75 | 74 | 293 |
| T75 | Nicolai Højgaard | +5 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 74 | 293 |
| T78 | Ben Kohles | +6 | 74 | 71 | 76 | 73 | 294 |
| T78 | Beau Hossler | +6 | 74 | 71 | 75 | 74 | 294 |
| T78 | Ryo Hisatsune | +6 | 71 | 74 | 72 | 77 | 294 |
| 81 | Ben Silverman | +7 | 71 | 72 | 79 | 73 | 295 |
| 82 | Ryan McCormick | +10 | 72 | 73 | 80 | 73 | 298 |
| CUT | Jacob Bridgeman | +2 | 74 | 72 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Zach Johnson | +2 | 70 | 76 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Callum Tarren | +2 | 72 | 74 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Chesson Hadley | +2 | 73 | 73 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Wilson Furr | +2 | 72 | 74 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Ben Taylor | +2 | 72 | 74 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Erik van Rooyen | +2 | 70 | 76 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Erik Barnes | +2 | 73 | 73 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Chad Ramey | +2 | 72 | 74 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Harrison Endycott | +2 | 70 | 76 | - | - | 146 |
| CUT | Matt Kuchar | +3 | 73 | 74 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Paul Barjon | +3 | 73 | 74 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Doug Ghim | +3 | 71 | 76 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Norman Xiong | +3 | 72 | 75 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Roger Sloan | +3 | 74 | 73 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Lee Hodges | +3 | 73 | 74 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Grayson Murray | +3 | 72 | 75 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Patrick Fishburn | +3 | 74 | 73 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Michael Kim | +3 | 73 | 74 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Ryan Brehm | +3 | 75 | 72 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Carson Young | +3 | 77 | 70 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Brandon Wu | +3 | 76 | 71 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Camilo Villegas | +3 | 71 | 76 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Joseph Bramlett | +3 | 72 | 75 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Chandler Phillips | +3 | 71 | 76 | - | - | 147 |
| CUT | Jorge Campillo | +4 | 70 | 78 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Jhonattan Vegas | +4 | 73 | 75 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Jimmy Walker | +4 | 74 | 74 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Hayden Buckley | +4 | 73 | 75 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Troy Merritt | +4 | 71 | 77 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Eric Cole | +4 | 74 | 74 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Rickie Fowler | +4 | 76 | 72 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Billy Horschel | +4 | 75 | 73 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Kevin Dougherty | +4 | 72 | 76 | - | - | 148 |
| CUT | Jimmy Stanger | +5 | 74 | 75 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Byeong Hun An | +5 | 74 | 75 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Harris English | +5 | 72 | 77 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | J.B. Holmes | +5 | 70 | 79 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Ryan Fox | +5 | 70 | 79 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Greyson Sigg | +5 | 73 | 76 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Chris Gotterup | +5 | 76 | 73 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Alex Smalley | +5 | 74 | 75 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Taylor Pendrith | +5 | 71 | 78 | - | - | 149 |
| CUT | Scott Gutschewski | +6 | 77 | 73 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Padraig Harrington | +6 | 75 | 75 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Nicholas Lindheim | +6 | 73 | 77 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Davis Riley | +6 | 75 | 75 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Seamus Power | +6 | 73 | 77 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Ryan Palmer | +6 | 75 | 75 | - | - | 150 |
| CUT | Tom Kim | +7 | 73 | 78 | - | - | 151 |
| CUT | Joe Sullivan(a) | +7 | 75 | 76 | - | - | 151 |
| CUT | Joel Dahmen | +7 | 74 | 77 | - | - | 151 |
| CUT | Raul Pereda | +7 | 74 | 77 | - | - | 151 |
| CUT | Luke Donald | +8 | 77 | 75 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Adrien Dumont de Chassart | +8 | 75 | 77 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | K.H. Lee | +8 | 77 | 75 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Blaine Hale, Jr. | +8 | 83 | 69 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | David Skinns | +8 | 75 | 77 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Max Greyserman | +8 | 77 | 75 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Adam Long | +8 | 77 | 75 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Rafael Campos | +8 | 76 | 76 | - | - | 152 |
| CUT | Cameron Champ | +9 | 77 | 76 | - | - | 153 |
| CUT | Zac Blair | +9 | 78 | 75 | - | - | 153 |
| CUT | Alejandro Tosti | +10 | 75 | 79 | - | - | 154 |
| CUT | Alex Welch | +10 | 78 | 76 | - | - | 154 |
| CUT | Matt NeSmith | +11 | 79 | 76 | - | - | 155 |
| CUT | Ben Willman | +11 | 79 | 76 | - | - | 155 |
| CUT | Andrew Landry | +12 | 77 | 79 | - | - | 156 |
| CUT | Sam Ryder | +13 | 80 | 77 | - | - | 157 |
| CUT | Nico Echavarria | +15 | 82 | 77 | - | - | 159 |
| CUT | Tom Adrounie | +20 | 87 | 77 | - | - | 164 |
| W/D | Patrick Rodgers | - | 78 | - | - | - | 78 |
| W/D | Trace Crowe | - | 79 | - | - | - | 79 |
| W/D | Taylor Montgomery | - | 81 | - | - | - | 81 |
