Battling for top 50 status, Akshay Bhatia goes flag hunting, shoots 62 at FedEx St. Jude

USA Today

4 hours ago

Akshay Bhatia has characterized this winless season for him on the PGA Tour as demoralizing. On Thursday, he vented some of that frustration at TPC Southwind in Memphis, eagling the par-5 16th and playing the last three holes in 4-under par. All told, he signed for an 8-under 62, a career-low, and grabbed the early lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Bhatia entered the week at No. 45 in the season-long FedEx Cup standings, needing a good week to ensure he finishes in the top 50 and advances to the BMW Championship next week. Bhatia said that his unsettled status for next week – let alone next season's signature events, which are also on the line – has been living rent-free in his head for some time now and he knows he needs to block it out.
More: 2025 FedEx St. Jude Championship leaderboard, live updates
'I've been looking at a lot of numbers that I don't need to look at, obviously FedEx Cup, world ranking, and I'm still doing it, and I still catch myself doing it,' he said.
With points worth quadruple the value this week, he's projected to jump to No. 3. He should be in good shape if he can continue to put on a ball-striking clinic as he did in the opening round. His approach game gained 4.724 strokes, his second-best approach round of his Tour career and just the third time in his career he gained more than 4 strokes in that category. He also ranked first in SG: Tee to Green.
'Iron play has been great ever since Hilton Head,' Bhatia said, referring to the host course of the RBC Heritage in mid-April.
But the results haven't been up to par for the 23-year-old Bhatia, who hit a rough patch this season and hasn't recorded a top-10 finish since March when he came up a shot short of a playoff at the Players Championship.
'It's just been a decline. Struggled with my driver for a little bit, didn't play great in the majors, just too much pressure on myself trying to make Ryder Cup, trying to win, trying to contend in majors,' he said. 'I've just compartmentalized at this point where if I don't make top 50, it's OK, and at least I have my job next year. So, all in all it's been, you know, the toughest year I've had.'
Bhatia's game has shown signs of life recently. He played himself into the final group on Sunday at the 3M Open with a third-round 63 but faltered on the final day, shooting 75 to tumble to T-25. Last week he withdrew in the second round when play was suspended at the Wyndham Championship and he was unlikely to make the cut.
On Thursday, he rolled in a 9-foot birdie putt at the first. He added a short birdie at the par-5 third and then stuffed approach shots tight at No. 6 to 3 feet, No. 8 to inside 2 feet and No. 11 to 3 feet. He made his lone bogey of the day at No. 12 but closed with authority, pouring in a 13-foot eagle putt at No. 16 and he wasn't done yet. He canned a 27-foot birdie putt at 17 and recorded three straight threes to wrap his round, sticking his fourth approach of the day inside 4 feet for another kick-in birdie at 18. Bhatia had shot 63 on six different occasions but said the difference in setting his career low at 62 was feeling calm and relaxed on the course.
'I'm just really trying to have a little more peace on the golf course,' he said. '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.'
Bhatia played alongside England's Harry Hall and the two drafted off each other all day. Hall rode a hot putter and signed for a bogey-free 6-under 64. Hall wasn't surprised to see Bhatia go low in his company.
'I told him at the last there that he always plays good with me,' he said.