Tied for the lead in the final round of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Akshay Bhatia pulled his tee shot on the par-4 13th dead right, into a tree.
His ball dropped into the rough, 97 yards from where he initially struck it.
This drive from Akshay Bhatia only went 97 yards. His first missed fairway of the day was a big miss, but he bounced back to save par and remains tied for the lead pic.twitter.com/J7imP2RbPJ
PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) June 30, 2024
The left-hander played his second shot 267 yards up the fairway, leaving him 44 yards to the flag. From there, he got up and down for par to remain a co-leader.
Bhatia, a two-time winner on Tour, was still tied at the top entering the par-4 18th. He hit the green in two and had 32 feet for the win. Bhatia, however, left that effort 4 feet short and then missed the par save that would have forced a playoff with Cam Davis.
It was the 22-year-old’s first three-putt and his first miss inside 6 feet all week. The final-round, even-par 72 left him in a four-way tie for second.
“It sucks, no other way to put it. I mean, just sucks,” Bhatia said.
“I made a great par on 13, hit that tree off the tee and managed to make par. That was a big momentum thing for me. Hit a lot of good shots down the stretch, so yeah, I mean, I know how to close a golf tournament, I’ve done it before, just today wasn’t my day.”