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.
