Just when it appeared that Akshay Bhatia would probably have to wait another couple of years for his Ryder Cup debut, the youngster stole the show during the early stages of the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Thursday.
Akshay Bhatia appeared to have a very realistic chance of pushing to make the Ryder Cup team earlier this year. He finished tied for third at The Players Championship, with Bhatia’s aggressiveness even compared with Tiger Woods.
Unfortunately, the last few months have been much more difficult for the 23-year-old. He missed the cut at the PGA Championship and the US Open, while his best result this year in the majors was tied for 30th. With that, he is one of the players facing a fight just to secure his spot at the BMW Championship next week.
Akshay Bhatia makes admission about his mindset after his first round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship
Remarkably, Bhatia has not had a top 10 on the PGA Tour since TPC Sawgrass.
But that run may be about to end this week. Bhatia opened his FedEx St. Jude Championship with a 62 on Thursday to set the early pace at TPC Southwind.
A victory this week would likely put Bhatia in the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings. He would also stake a much-needed claim for a Ryder Cup spot given that he currently sits 25th in the standings for Bethpage.
But one person who will be trying to avoid thinking about the permutations of a good week is Bhatia himself. He admitted that he has been struggling to change his mindset in recent weeks.
“Yeah, I haven’t done a great job. I’ve been looking at a lot of numbers that I don’t need to look at, obviously FedExCup, world ranking, and I’m still doing it, and I still catch myself doing it,” he said.
“But I’m just really trying to have a little more peace on the golf course. I think this game can consume your life, your happiness, and so I’m just trying to figure out ways to change that because I feel like I don’t really want to live my life based off of an unstable game. That’s going to drive me nuts. This whole year it has, so I’m just trying to be just a little more at ease with whatever I shoot.”
How Akshay Bhatia reacted to his disappointing final round at the 3M Open
Bhatia really should have ended his wait for a top 10 at the 3M Open. He found himself in the final group on Sunday at TPC Twin Cities before posting a 75 in the last round to finish in a tie for 25th.
And he admitted that he really struggled to shake off the frustration from how he performed in the final round in Minnesota.
“Yeah. I think certain days are easier than others, but again, it’s still very hard. I felt like at 3M I did a nice job for three days and then Sunday was — I sat in my hotel room furious. It’s hard because I want to perform the way I know I can, and this year again hasn’t been the easiest. But I’m just trying to enjoy what I have and be grateful for what I get to do for a living,” he said.
Clearly, Bhatia will not be getting carried away with his bright start in Memphis with plenty of work still to be done before he secures his spot in the top 50 this season.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
