Global Indians
After 17 year old Megha Ganne’s stellar performance at the Women’s US Open in San Francisco last week, it was 19-year-old L.A born Akshay Bhatia’s turn in San Diego as he impressed with rounds of 73-73-73-75 (10-over 294) over the demanding Torrey Pines course to finish tied-57th in his first ever major.
Bhatia entered the US Open field after shooting 65-73(-4) at a 36-hole regional qualifying tournament on June 7 in South Carolina, where he now lives, and then made a dramatic birdie on the 36th hole at Torrey to just make the cut for the weekend at +4 for his first two rounds.
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Bhatia turned pro in 2019 at age 17 after being ranked among the top 5 amateurs in the world (the same as Collin Morikawa’s rank when he turned pro) and has since recorded one-top 10 on the PGA Tour and three wins on mini tours while missing out on cancelled qualifiers for the Korn Ferry and other tours.
Bhatia, also a lefty, has developed a good relationship with fellow Callaway brand ambassador and six-time major winner, Phil Mickelson as they share the same management company. Bhatia hitched a ride on Phil’s US$40 million Lear Jet on the way to the Saudi International at the start of 2021.
Bhatia has ample support from his parents Sonny and Renu and older sister Rhea, herself a college golf player, as they try to travel with the youngster to as many tournaments as possible.
Bhatia decided to turn pro immediately after High School as he and his father decided to use professional tournaments as his training ground instead of college golf. Bhatia, at 17, was the youngest ever to make the US Walker Cup Team in 2019 in the Ryder Cup style amateur team match of USA v Great Britain and Ireland where he helped the US team to victory.
Sahith Theegala, 24, the other Indian origin player in the field, missed the U.S. Open cut after shooting 76-73 (+7).