It’s not often that you have 10 birdies in one round but still have two issues that supposedly need to be fixed, but Akshay Bhatia is clearly a perfectionist!
The continual drive to improve – it is what makes these guys so good isn’t it.
Bhatia posted a superb opening round of seven-under-par 63 at the Truist Championship.
The 23-year-old has a ‘long driver’ in the bag this week, in a bid to find some extra length off the tee.
Back at The Masters, Bhatia said Rory McIlroy was the best driver he has ever seen, and he clearly gained inspiration from playing alongside the Northern Irishman.
And his first round at the Truist Championship was a sign that he is very much heading in the right direction.
Akshay Bhatia shares two things he must improve at the Truist Championship
His opening round at Philadelphia Cricket Club included 10 birdies and three bogies.
Bhatia currently sits two shots adrift of first round leader Keith Mitchell, and he will be hoping to post another low score on Friday.
The talented young left-hander spoke to reporters after his impressive opening round of 63 on Thursday.
And Bhatia highlighted how there are a couple of things that he still needs to work on.
He said, “Yeah, it felt like I didn’t have many long putts today. For that stretch especially, I felt like I was kind of just hitting my numbers and hitting it pretty close. It was a fun day. It’s a golf course where you look at the leaderboard and everyone’s 4-, 5-, 6-, 7-, 8-under or whatever it may be.
“Definitely a solid day to start. Made a couple of mistakes. Just got to clean up some of the longer putts and get more comfortable with my driver. That’s kind of been the issue for me these last four or five weeks. Just trying to slowly but surely get a little bit better with the long driver.
“It’s all kind of right in front of you. You’ve got to figure out where you want to leave yourself when it comes to putts. There’s so much slope in these greens. With some of the pins that they can have, you’ve really got to have uphill putts.
“Yeah, the more and more you play this golf course, the more and more you get comfortable with certain sight lines and stuff. You’ve got plenty of birdie opportunities, and then you’ve got a couple where you’ve got to make really good pars.
“I feel like I’ve heard so much great stuff about Philly Cricket Club. I think just seeing all the fans really coming out is pretty cool for a Thursday. I feel like typically on a Thursday there’s not too many people out.
“I think just the overall layout is pretty cool. You’ve got just old school greens and just kind of the square look. Then it’s just really pure, like just all the false fronts are just in front of the green, they’re just as fast as the green.
“It’s a great golf course. Look forward to the rest of the week with how the weather is.“
Bhatia’s stats on day one of the Truist Championship
The 23-year-old lefty was in superb form at Philly Cricket Club on day one.
However, he clearly wasn’t overly satisfied with two aspects of his game.
Here’s how his driving and putting stacked up…
| Statistical category | Bhatia on day on at Truist | Rank |
| Putts per GIR | 1.4 | T-1 |
| Strokes gained putting | +0.42 | 28 |
| Feet of putts made | 87′ 9″ | T-24 |
| Driving accuracy | 57.14% | T-34 |
| Driving distance | 326.20 yards | 20 |
There clearly is still room for improvement for the two-time PGA Tour winner.
And if Bhatia is to have a chance of making the Truist Championship the third win of his career on tour, he will need to just tighten up his driving and long-range putting.
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