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U.S. JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 18, 2018

Akshay Bhatia

Springfield, New Jersey

Q. So you had a strong start. You won four out of the five first holes. Walk through that a little bit.
AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, 1st hole I hit two really good shots and then 2-putted. I hit three or four shots really close first couple holes, so my distance control early was really good, and that kind of continued throughout the round.

Just converted the putts, too.

Q. And you had back-to-back birdies on 3 and 4.
AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, so I hit it to about five feet on 3 and then about three feet on 4, so two really good shots there. Same club: pitching wedge, which was nice.

Q. You led basically the whole way today.
AKSHAY BHATIA: Uh-huh.

Q. Talk me through your mindset and what it's like to be up the whole time.
AKSHAY BHATIA: You just can't get down on yourself if you lose a hole or if you don't have honors or whatever. Just got to keep your head up.

This week is going to be a huge grind, especially on this tough of a golf course. Just kind of realizing that pars will really win the hole on a lot of holes. If you sneak a couple birdies in, that's also a bonus.

Q. Do you find yourself playing more to the course or more to your opponent?
AKSHAY BHATIA: Definitely a little bit of both. More the course just because you can't play the other player's game.

So it's just kind of same mindset as stroke play: just how many birdies you can make and just minimize mistakes.

Q. Anything you're going to change about your game leading into the round of 32?
AKSHAY BHATIA: Just work on my driver a little bit. It was kind of everywhere. Just contact wasn't very good.

Just relax and have a good day tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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