MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2024

Akshay Bhatia

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. We're pleased to be joined in the interview room by the last entrance into the 2024 Masters field, Akshay Bhatia. Akshay, welcome to Augusta National.

A decade ago you competed at Augusta National as a Drive, Chip & Putt finalist, and yesterday you earned your way back with a dramatic win. Can you describe your last 24 hours.

AKSHAY BHATIA: I really can't. Just wire-to-wire is very hard to do, having a six-shot lead with nine holes to go, you feel pretty good about yourself. I was playing really good all day, and Denny just kind of found this, you know, fire in him. And when a guy shoots 28 on the back, makes -- I think he had seven one-putts on the back nine, it's pretty impressive.

Just to be standing here, it's amazing, and just having the opportunity, the members giving us the opportunity to play their golf course is certainly special, and I can't wait to be on that first tee on Thursday.

THE MODERATOR: Great, we'll open it up to questions.

Q. Do you remember the last time you were here?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, I came here with a member in 2019 or 2020 in November. It was the first time I played the golf course. And just unreal moment for me, just the presence of this place is spectacular. And I'm excited to be here as a participant this year, and, yeah, it's great.

Q. Can I follow with one thing, were you one of those kids who when you were in the Drive, Chip & Putt standing over a shot saying, This is for the Masters?

AKSHAY BHATIA: You know, in the Drive, Chip & Putt not necessarily, but growing up as a kid I think everyone kind of says that to themselves and just have that opportunity, you know, that first time at the Drive, Chip & Putt is pretty surreal as a kid. You just don't realize how lucky we are to have that opportunity.

And for everyone to be so gracious to let some kids hit some golf balls on the range, hit some putts on the 18th green, it was unreal. And I remember making that putt, wearing those baggy pants, and thankfully my style's gotten a little better, so...

Q. I read that you're working with Julie Elion; is that correct?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I'm working with her other half, Brian. So they're affiliated.

Q. Just wondering what you guys have been working on and how were you able to tap into that yesterday and really the whole week. Because as you mentioned, sleeping with the lead three times in a row can't be easy.

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, we started working together start of PLAYERS week. There was so much that I had going on in my life, not just in golf, but more so my life, and we tackled a lot of things, a lot of long conversations throughout these last couple weeks.

And I've really tried to work on myself just off the golf course, dealing with a lot of different things. Yeah, we just had different goals every day. And I remember texting him Tuesday. He said, How are you feeling? And I said, I don't feel that great.

Going to Valero, I was hitting it terrible. And I finished 11th the week before. But just learning a lot from the Houston Open, there were six shots that I feel like if I would have backed off of, I probably would have had a better chance of winning the golf tournament.

We tackled that. Yeah, everything kind of just came to fruition. And it wasn't easy, for sure. I felt like I couldn't breathe the whole day, the last couple days. But it was also a weird sense of calmness. So I don't really know how to describe that.

Q. Do you realize what kind of an impact you and Sahith are having back in India? There are no Indians in this field this year, but there are two Indian Americans, yourself and Sahith. Do you realize the kind of impact you're having back home on Indian golf? In the last 24 hours, I've written three stories in two different airport lounges about you, fixing time in between the transfers. So do you realize what impact you're having back in your home of origin?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I don't know if I quite realize what Sahith and I can do for the golf in India. I know it's really special when I have a bunch of fans looking up to me, a bunch of kids coming up to me. And I almost had the opportunity to go a couple years ago before COVID happened, which would have been really special --

Q. 2019?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, 2019. And I'm really hoping I can do that soon.

But I think it's awesome just being able to grow the game just not in the States, but in India. I think it's special to us, the words and kind of like what we can do for golf there is I think awesome, and the development we can accomplish for people over there is really cool.

Q. Can you talk about your shoulder, how does it feel and is this an injury that you've had or did it just happen?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, the shoulder is -- you know, it's going to be a work in progress, for sure. I've had it happen two, three times. I had a full disk location playing pickleball a couple years ago, and I had -- it kind of subluxed in Bermuda a couple -- in 2021. I played through that week. I think I finished 15th or 16th.

So it's nothing new to me. It's a weird, weird experience because I had so much adrenaline so I had no pain kind of in that playoff. But it's definitely something we're going to have to work towards, and I have a lot of trust in my team that we can tee it up on Thursday.

Q. You won the Barracuda Championship back in August of last year, and it was a bit of a disappointment to you not to get the FedExCup points because you weren't technically a member, you were a special temporary member of the PGA TOUR. In your work with Ryan Davis, was he able to help you get over the disappointment that I know you carried for a while?

AKSHAY BHATIA: You know, we didn't get into too much detail about that stuff. I still think winning out here is a big thing. And regardless of how that outcome happened, I think it fueled the fire in me, for sure. Having, you know, not being in the signature events this year, not having opportunity is really hard because I'm working my butt off. This is my seventh week in a row. But now winning this event, last week, being in all the signatures, and playing golf courses that I really truly love is something that I'm really excited for. And just even being here, first off, is unreal.

Q. Can you take us back a decade and tell us some of the stories you remember from coming here the first time and the enduring memories?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, I remember we had -- they were hosting us in a hotel, all the participants. And I was in an elevator, John Daly walks in, and I'm like this guy's got a Diet Coke, hood on. And I realized it was John Daly, so it was really cool to kind of see him in the flesh for once.

Yeah, just driving up Magnolia Lane with all the kids, met a lot of new friends. I remember we were in the hotel, and we got one of the Masters cups from the Tournament, and this -- we had a couple of us, but we all grabbed our putters and just were putting on the carpet in the hotel and just having a bunch of fun, really.

Then I remember coming out watching the practice rounds on Tuesday or Wednesday -- yeah, Tuesday. We were sitting on Hole 4 on the grandstands, and it was just so surreal. I remember how bad I wanted to be out there and not just watch.

Now being here and being the first Drive, Chip & Putt participant in the Masters is really cool. So I'm hoping this can inspire a lot of kids that are having the opportunity to play.

Q. Can you tell us just the logistics from last night to today: Did somebody have to get housing lined up, did you come last night, did you wait until this morning, when did you get here, all that?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, my agent's done a great job. He's had a lot of belief in me since I was a kid. Since I turned pro. He had the house lined up. Then one of my sponsors, ONEflight, he flew his plane out for us, waited for us, watched me finish the tournament off. And he got us here safe and sound. It was a pretty cool experience for me. We just got here, the car was ready. So we got here last night and just kind of got in pretty late and had a good morning.

Q. When did you get out here this morning, and what did you do today?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, I slept in as much as I could. I didn't get much sleep. Still a lot of adrenaline. Then I got here about 30, 40 minutes ago, so around 2 o'clock. Just kind of got the lay of the land of Augusta. I haven't been here in a couple years and I truly haven't seen it as a tournament. It's pretty cool. There's a lot going on, for sure. I'm still learning a bunch.

Q. Because of your Indian origin, I'm going to ask you this, have you ever done Bhangra, the exaggerated hand and shoulder movement dance?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I have not, no.

Q. Don't do it.

AKSHAY BHATIA: (Laughing). I might hurt my shoulder doing that.

Q. But I wanted to ask you, actually, we all know about, I mean, the Indian parents and the parenting that we have gone through, and you have also gone through the same thing. What kind of values have you got from that that has helped you become probably a better golfer?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, I think my parents were always very supportive. And I feel like, in our culture, everyone is family. So regardless of how you're doing, everyone either comes up with you, or if you're going down, everyone's still stays up.

So I've learned a lot from my parents, even my family, all the support of them. And it makes me feel like more of a person and not just a golfer. So I truly take that to heart and, yeah, it's kind of what I've learned.

Q. Have you had a moment to kind of stop for a minute and think of just what this moment will be like and what your goals are this week?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Not yet. There's still a lot to learn this week. Just registering, kind of just like I said, getting the lay of the land. I'm going to talk to Ryan my psychologist this afternoon, he's flying in tonight, and we'll have a good game plan, some goals, and kind of get the ball rolling tomorrow.

Q. When you did get on this golf course a couple years ago you said it was a member, what was it like to be out there and what kind of feelings did that bring to you?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I mean, it's always special here. I think just the aura of the place has, you know, just, it's unreal. I think, too, that we were one of probably four, five groups out here, so you kind of have the whole place to yourself, and just the golf course is unreal. You just know all the golf shots that have been hit on certain holes and just kind of picturing that in your head is pretty cool. In real life it's definitely life-changing.

Q. What time did you get here last night?

AKSHAY BHATIA: We got here around 1:30 in the morning.

Q. What do you think your practice schedule today through Wednesday will be and who you have practice rounds lined up with, and do you think the shoulder will impact your preparations at all?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Today I'm just taking it easy. I'm going to get some physio work, just make sure my body's good and rested. Like I said, this is seven weeks in a row for me, so it's a lot of golf, but I also have a ton of adrenaline so it kind of balances out.

As far as tomorrow, not really sure what I'm going to do.

Then I know for sure Wednesday I'll play the Par-3 Contest and, but, yeah, just going to kind of sit down with the team and figure out what the best game plan is. I'm hoping my shoulder should be good, but I might be a little scared to hit some shots, and we just got to find out tomorrow.

Q. Kind of going off of those, what have you learned about the power of rest, being on this crazy stretch of golf, and maybe balancing your time both on and off the course?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, rest is very important. Just not spending too much time on the golf course. It's a hard balance, because you feel like you have to get so much done, but at the same time you really don't. I remember, winning Barracuda, I only played nine holes and ended up winning the golf tournament. So, there's always a fine balance. But I feel like when I have Presleigh, my fiancee, around, we just kind of take a seat back and go do some normal things and not just focus on the golf. So it's a little different for a major week, and this is obviously a very important week to many of us, but I talked to Jon Rahm last night and he was just kind of saying that you treat it like a normal event, and so that's what I'm going to do.

Q. The ultimate acid test for your adoption of the broomstick putter must be that last putt on regulation yesterday. Can you talk a little bit about your adoption of that and that particular situation?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, I've built a really nice team around me, people that I trust, and we went through kind of the stats last year of what I can improve on.

My ball striking was always really good, and putting always kind of lacked. When you want to contend in tournaments, you got to make some putts when they count.

So I just felt like the style I was using previous was good, but it wasn't -- it just wasn't as consistent. So we took a chance on switching to the broomstick, and I talked to a couple players about it, and they gave me some good advice, just kind of what to work on.

I made a promise to myself that I'm going to take at least six months to try this putter out, regardless of how it goes, and so far my stats have kind of skyrocketed. So it's nice improvement, especially from kind of the 10- to 15-feet range. I feel like, regardless of what putter you have, in that moment I feel like I was going to make that putt, so it doesn't really affect me, I guess.

Q. How much of a challenge is it to switch caddies and go through caddies kind of mid-season? And just the second part of that is, what allowed you and Ryan to work so well in the first week together last week?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, it's definitely different. I had my caddie for seven, eight months. He was awesome. We had a great relationship. Just finding someone last minute, you don't know how you're going to mesh. They don't know your golf game.

So had David Cooke, Webb Simpson's caddie, in Houston, and he was awesome, super positive. I had a lot of fun with him.

Ryan and I have had, you know, a pretty good relationship. He was caddying for Justin Suh for a long time, and Justin and I came up at the same time.

So we spent a lot of time together, especially on the Korn Ferry Tour. Yeah, for whatever reason, he's just -- he's really smart, obviously. He coached at Stanford, and he works really hard. He just -- he has a good idea of and sense of how I was feeling throughout the day and also kind of the goals that I had in front of me. He just kept reminding me of that.

And, yeah, just all worked out. It's pretty crazy, it's kind of a fairy tale story.

Q. In addition to the Drive, Chip & Putt, when you were younger, you also played in the Sage Valley Junior Invitational and did really well there. How much of an impact do you think playing in those two events when you were younger had on you now and your ability to get back here, knowing how special an opportunity it is to be able to play here in Augusta this time of the year?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, I think the Junior Invitational is a pretty special tournament to us. We get to stay on property, we get to hang out with all the participants there. The golf course was spectacular.

I think it's one of the -- probably the highest-ranked tournament that we ever play. It feels like our Masters as kids. That golf tournament was great. I played -- the year I won, I played against Ludvig, who finished second, and we're both here today.

So I think it just shows an impact on how much that tournament generates great players. And being here as a kid is kind of a fairy tale. Just having the opportunity, qualifying, and you earn your spot getting here, just how I did today, and so it's a cool kind of thing that everyone at Augusta National does for us and for years to come.

Q. If you can describe for us the transformation of your game from your college days to a pro, both in terms of skills and personality? And aligned with that, what kind of friendships you made on TOUR after turning pro and how they have helped you sort of be where you are today?

AKSHAY BHATIA: So, I didn't go to college, but I guess, you know, growing up, I had some mentors out here pretty early on. Phil Mickelson was one of 'em. He was a big brother to me. He would play as many practice rounds as we could when I got sponsor exemptions on the PGA TOUR.

I'm still trying to find my footing with some friendships out here. It's definitely a little different because it's a lot more business oriented, especially when you tee it up. But I have a couple good friends out here, and I'm looking to kind of build my team and kind of stick to who I have and who I trust.

Q. How do you balance the obvious excitement and playing in your first Masters and the awe of being here with just getting down to business and being able to put on your best performance?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, I think soaking in what just happened is important. You don't get to kind of have those opportunities too much. I waited seven, eight months to kind of get those feelings of singing in the car on the way to the airport and just kind of bouncing up and down on the plane ride.

But, you know, today I'm still going to soak it in. Tomorrow is kind of, okay, what's our goals for the week, and just get ready to tee it up. So it's another golf tournament. It's a very special tournament. But at the end of the day, one of us is going to win. So that's kind of my goal. And, yeah, I'm excited to tee it up.

THE MODERATOR: Akshay, thank you for your time today, and welcome to Augusta National and the Masters.

AKSHAY BHATIA: Thank you.