Akshay Bhatia is currently tied for the lead after two rounds of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Bhatia has been in imperious form so far at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, firing rounds of 65 and 64 at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill respectively.
The 24-year-old has turned things around after missing his first two cuts of the 2026 PGA Tour season.
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He recorded a T-3 finish at the WM Phoenix Open last week and now he has a very good chance to win at Pebble Beach in his fourth start of the season.
Interestingly, Bhatia had an offer to join LIV Golf from the PGA Tour during the off-season, so perhaps that unsettled him.
However, the man from Northridge, California, is now showing signs that he could be back to his best.
In spite of that, golf fans were not happy one little bit with what they saw from Bhatia on day two of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Golf fans convinced Akshay Bhatia broke the rules at Pebble Beach
Bhatia is a hugely popular player on the PGA Tour.
With that in mind, it may sound surprising that golf fans were so angry after watching him play at Spyglass Hill on Friday.
Many golf fans believe Bhatia broke a rule without even trying to hide it on day two of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
However, it’s worth noting that the USGA and the R&A are to blame for creating a rule which is not clearly defined.
Bhatia is one of the players on the PGA Tour who uses a long putter.
The USGA and the R&A introduced a new rule on January 1st 2016, banning the anchoring of golf clubs.
However, that was a big mistake. They should have just implemented a rule with 38 inches being the maximum length allowed for putters.
The fact they have a rule in place that is defined by such a grey area is ridiculous really. Nobody can tell if players like Bhatia are anchoring the butt of their putter grip to their chest or not.
However, golf fans watching the Pebble Beach broadcast on Friday were convinced that Bhatia was doing exactly that.
“He is 100% anchoring. I don’t care how many more putts I made. This doesn’t even look like golf. It genuinely disgusts me. Ban these long putters and stop this nonsense,“ one fan exclaimed.
Many more followers of the PGA Tour echoed a similar sentiment.
One fan didn’t hold back: “Yep just a form of breaking the rules simple,“ while another posted a message along the same lines: “Needs pulling to one side for sure, seen pros disqualified for less.“
“Yeah I’m on your side here. I like the guy but Akshay is definitely breaking the rules,“ one fan insisted.
And the comments kept coming, like: “I use the broom but do not anchor. From that video he is anchoring it. Langer definitely anchors it. Mixed on should it be against the rules,“ and: “Bernhard Langer has been doing it for decades. It’s breaking the rules! Don’t care what you say.“
Another fan suggested that players need to be penalized for ‘anchoring’ their putters.
“As Brooksy said long ago, you gotta start stroking guys for the nonsense,“ one user on X insisted.
While another said: “Banning long putters should be universally agreed on.“
Numerous other comments were posted on X by angry golf fans…
PGA Tour followers exclaimed: “Quick fix. A putter shall be no longer than the player’s 9 iron,” and “That’s known as the cheater putter where we play.“
“Ban long putters, end of debate,“ one fan demanded.
Golf fans exasperated by Akshay Bhatia’s putting style
Two other fans watching Bhatia during his round at Spyglass Hill vented their frustrations on social media.
“THAT IS ANCHORING! Completely illegal and he should be disqualified,“ one said, while another labelled Bhatia’s actions as ‘pathetic’: “Penalize this fool. This is pathetic.“
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Finally, another golf fan shared his bewilderment that golf’s governing bodies are allowing this to happen.
He said: “Why is this being allowed?“
Something has to change. As mentioned earlier, the only rule that would be fair to everyone would be limiting the length of the putter during professional golf events.
Bhatia may or may not have been anchoring his putter at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but the fact we don’t know for sure is what makes the rule so ridiculous in the first place.
And golf’s governing bodies absolutely have to address that problem immediately.
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