Indian-American Akshay Bhatia comes close to third PGA Tour win as he shares lead at 3M Open
Bhatia, a 23-year-old Indian-American, whose parents came from India, chipped in twice on way to 63, as he seeks his third PGA TOUR victory in his 90th start with his previous wins being the 2023 Barracuda Championship and the 2024 Valero Texas Open. His third round 8-under 63 matched his career-low score which he has shot five times. The last time Bhatia played the 3M Open, he was T-64 in 2024.
Bhatia, No. 46 in the FedExCup, is attempting to go right up to the Tour Championship as he did in 2024.
Bhatia said, "I chipped in twice, made a lot of putts. A lot of putts lipped in, which was really nice to see. All in all, just a pretty solid round. Felt like I did a pretty good job of playing out of the rough today. I didn't hit it particularly great off the tee, but thankfully greens are soft enough to where you can kind of do that.'
Bhatia, who closed 2024 with a fourth place in World Challenge at Tiger Woods' tournament has also got three Top-10s in 2025 including Tied-third at the Players. He chipped in from 42 feet for birdie on the fifth and from 55 feet for another birdie on 11. 'I'm just trying to play solid golf and hopefully the cards fall my way tomorrow," said Bhatia.
Tied for first with Bhatia is Denmark's Thorbjorn Olesen seeking his first PGA Tour win, is making his 3M Open debut, holds 54-hole lead/co-lead for the first time on the PGA Tour. He entered the week No. 129 in the FedExCup and the eight-time DP World Tour winner earned PGA Tour membership for the 2025 season after finishing No. 7 in the 2024 DP World Tour Top 10, which awards Tour membership to the top 10 finishers in the final
Race to Dubai Rankings, not otherwise exempt.
The 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard winner, Kurt Kitayama recorded a career-low 11-under 60 and T-3 at 17-under. Kitayama also matched the tournament and course record with a 60.
Also tied third is Takumi Kanaya (65) and seeks to become the sixth player from Japan to win on Tour and second this season after Hideki Matsuyama, who won The Sentry title.
Also in a tie for third are Sam Stevens (66) and Jake Knapp (67).
Lying in a three-way tie for seventh are Chris Gotterup (65), Pierceson Coody (67) and Jesper Svensson (63) at 16-under.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
12 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Squash Tour 2025-26 expanded to six cities as a boost to India's ambitions for 2028 Olympics
In a boost to India's squash ambitions, especially with the sport's debut at the LA 2028 Olympics, the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI) on Thursday launched the Squash Tour 2025-26. All tournaments will award equal prize money to men and women (Generic photo).(REUTERS) The tour was launched in partnership with HCL, which, since 2016, has supported Indian squash across all levels, introducing structured training programs, coaching and referee development, and grassroots initiatives. Now expanded to six cities, this Professional Squash Association (PSA) Challenger Tour series brings international-calibre competition to Indian soil, offering critical PSA ranking points, enhanced prize purses, and a stronger pathway for homegrown athletes to excel globally. Following the resounding success of the inaugural edition, which saw Indian players improve their PSA rankings significantly, the revamped 2025-26 season includes Jaipur, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Delhi on its circuit, with the latter two cities newly added to the lineup. -Record Prize Pool and Enhanced Format -One PSA Challenger 15K event (Chennai) -Two PSA Challenger 9K events (Jaipur, Mumbai) -Three PSA Challenger 6K events (Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad) Importantly, all tournaments will award equal prize money to men and women, with champions taking home US dollars 15,000, 9,000, or 6,000, depending on the event tier. Each leg will follow a 24-player knockout format, with the top 8 seeds receiving byes into the second round. The Tour is open to PSA-registered players aged 15 and above. As a part of this calendar, the National Squash Championship 2025 will be held in New Delhi from August 23 to 28 With support from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Authority of India, the Tour was focused on bringing in new players in the PSA circuit 3,000 US dollar purses. Rajat Chandolia, Associate Vice President and Head of Brand, HCL Group, said as quoted in press release, "With squash set to debut at the 2028 Olympics, we are focused on creating a structured pipeline that helps Indian players thrive on the world stage. Our continued partnership with SRFI is aimed at strengthening every aspect of the sport's ecosystem in India." Cyrus Poncha, Secretary General of the Squash Rackets Federation of India (SRFI), said, "We are immensely grateful to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the Sports Authority of India, and our partner HCL, whose support since 2016 has been instrumental in nurturing Indian squash talent. The increased prize money and expanded tournament opportunities this year will further accelerate development, enabling more players to gain exposure, earn PSA points, and prepare for prestigious international events, including the Olympics." The announcement comes amid an extraordinary phase for Indian squash. In July 2025, Anahat Singh, who began her PSA journey in January 2024 when her ranking was 129, and then rose from there to World No. 54 and clinched a historic bronze at the World Junior Squash Championships. Other standout performances include: -Abhay Singh rising from the 200s to a career-best World No. 35 -Ramit Tandon (No. 28), Velavan Senthil Kumar (No. 39), Veer Chotrani (No. 62), and Tanvi Khanna (No. 69) are all climbing the global rankings The impact of this partnership is also reflected in India's broader medal tally, which has grown from 11 to 18 medals at the Asian and Commonwealth Games during this period. Most recently, India celebrated a hat-trick of gold medals at the 2025 Asian Doubles Squash Championships. Beyond squash, Squash India Tour 2025-26 Schedule: -Jaipur - August 4-8 (Sawai Man Singh Stadium) -Mumbai - September 8-12 -Bengaluru - September 26-31 -Chennai - December 1-5 -Ahmedabad - January 27-31, 2026 -Delhi - February 3-7, 2026
News18
14 hours ago
- News18
Aaron Rai lies third at Wyndham, Bhatia and Theegala trail far back
Greensboro (US), Aug 1 (PTI) Aaron Rai made a strong start to his title defence at the Wyndham Championship, firing a sensational seven-under 63 in the opening round here. Rai was Tied third in his bid to become the first player to successfully defend the title at the Wyndham Championship since Sam Snead in 1956. Joel Dahmen led the field with a 61 and Alex Noren (62) was second. Rai shared the third place with Colombian Nico Echavarria, Americans Cameron Young and Mark Hubbard. Indo-British Rai had eight birdies against one bogey. Indian American Akshay Bhatia, who is also assured of the first play-offs start, carded 2-under 68 and is Tied-64, while Sahith Theegala, who has been injured for a good part of the season, had a disappointing 2-over 72 and was T-131. Theegala will find it tough to make the cut. He needs to win this season to make the play-offs. Bhatia had four birdies against two bogeys, while Theegala had three birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey. Rai, who started from the tenth and bogeyed the 14th, but made no mistakes after that, birdied the 15th, 17th and the 18th to make the turn at 2-under. On his second nine, Rai birdied five times, including two sets of back-to-back birdies on the second and third and then again at seventh and eighth. In between, he had another gain on the fifth. Last year Aaron made the Tour Championship and made cut in all four Majors this year. Rai was 58th in the FedExCup standings before the start. Even though he is already in for the first Play-offs event, he is hoping to get closer to Top-50. The top 50 after the first FedExCup Playoffs event not only advance to the next week, but they are guaranteed to get in all the USD 20 million Signature Events. This season Rai had eight Top-25 finishes in 19 starts with a T4 at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld being his lone top-10. Following the Wyndham Championship, the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings will qualify for next week's FedEx St. Jude Championship. After the St. Jude Championship, the top 50 players will play the BMW Championship and then only the Top-30 will get to the Tour Championship. PTI ATK ATK view comments First Published: August 01, 2025, 12:45 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
Cycling-Local hero Squiban aces mountain test to win Tour de France Femmes stage six
FRANCE -Frenchwoman Maeva Squiban made a solo ride to the finish line with a perfectly-timed attack on the final major climb to win the mountainous stage six of the Tour de France Femmes on Thursday. Cycling-Local hero Squiban aces mountain test to win Tour de France Femmes stage six Squiban of UAE Team ADQ finished one minute and nine seconds ahead of compatriot Juliette Labous in the first French one-two in the history of the competition. "It's an amazing feeling. I didn't expect to do that," Squiban told reporters after becoming the second French rider to claim a stage in the event after Cedrine Kerbaol took stage six last year. Squiban stayed in the peloton led by yellow jersey holder Kimberley Le Court Pienaar , as mountains classification leader Elise Chabbey led the arduous 10-km climb to Col du Beal. The 23-year-old broke away on the ascent to Col du Chansert and soon built a lead of over a minute and comfortably took the win in the 123.7km ride from Clermont-Ferrand to Ambert. Mauritian Le Court, who won stage five, was the third to cross the finish line as she retained her lead in the general classification. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot , another home favourite, finished seventh in the stage to remain second in the race for the yellow jersey, 26 seconds behind Le Court. Points classification leader Lorena Wiebes fell back from the peloton during the first half of the stage and appeared to be content conserving her energy, as she retained the green jersey. The Tour continues on Friday with a hilly 159.7km ride from Bourg-en-Bresse to Chambery. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
