Akshay Bhatia… Pic: PGA TOUR
Akshay Bhatia, who had a breakthrough year in 2023, seems to be ready for a big win right at the start of 2024, as he moved into second place with one round to go in the Sentry on the PGA TOUR in Kapalua, Hawaii.
The 21-year-old left-hander, Bhatia, followed up his 69-64 with a 66 and at 20-under, he is one shot behind Chris Kirk (66) who birdied the 18th green at Kapalua’s par-73 Plantation Course. Kirk is now 21-under.
Three players, including Korea’s Byeong Hun An, are in third place. An has the company of two past champions Xander Schauffele (65) and Jordan Spieth (67) at 18-under.
In tied sixth place was Sahith Theegala, the first round leader and the bunch included World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (71), Jason Day (67) and Harris English (64). They were all at 18-under.
Bhatia had five birdies on the front nine and two on the back nine, as he went bogey free for the second day in succession. Bhatia, who secured his PGA TOUR card after a runner-up finish at the Puerto Rico Open and later won the Barracuda Championship, took only 27 putts for the second straight day. His only lapse was three-putting from 60 feet for par on the 667-yard closing hole for a 66.
Bhatia said, “I played nice today. Didn’t make any mistakes. I wish I would have not 3-putted 18 (for par), and that’s what I’m going to think about, but it was a good day. We all played really well in the group. I’m looking forward to the opportunity tomorrow.
He added, “My caddie has been here plenty of times, and I’m relying on him. Our game plan, we have a nice game plan of what holes we need to play conservatively, what holes we can attack, and then what holes we can just kind of plod around. If you make a couple birdies on the harder holes it’s a big jump, You got to make a lot of birdies. A lot of holes are birdie-able, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t. You just keep plotting around and hopefully you play this golf course more and more and you get more comfortable on certain things. So, that’s kind of what I’m going about.”
Korea’s An was buoyed by the presence of his family and a fresh mindset. He posted a third round 5-under 68 to stay in contention in the 2024 season-opening event which is offering a US$20 million prize fund.
Kirk was at 21-under 198 (67-65-66) in his first time back at Kapalua in eight years. He earned the PGA TOUR’s Courage Award in 2023 and won the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches that same year after having stepped away for a big part of 2019 to deal with alcoholism and depression.
An notched six birdies, including one on the last hole, to offset a lone bogey as he seeks a long-awaited victory that has eluded him after finishing runner-up four times in his PGA TOUR career. Compatriot Sungjae Im endured a frustrating 73 which included a double bogey to fall out of contention.
With Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Matt Fitzpatrick and JT Poston, all at 12-under, there are 12 players within four shots of the lead. In contrast, last year Morikawa took a six-shot lead into the final round but still ended second.
Read also:
Theegala slips to 9th, is joined by fellow Indian-American Bhatia; Scheffler leads in Hawaii
Indian-American Theegala takes lead in season-opener on PGA TOUR
