Akshay Bhatia nails his colours with Dustin Johnson Junior victory

By Rahul Banerji

He has been making waves in the US for quite some time now including being ranked as the nation’s top junior, but Akshay Bhatia will probably put his Dustin Johnson World Junior win last week in a special slot.

The lanky 17-year-old, who is talked about the next big thing by American golf circles, spread-eagled a quality field in winning the event at TPC Myrtle Beach in South Carolina by six shots. It was his fourth attempt, and going by the buzz, his last one as Bhatia could well step into the professional ranks in 2020.

Last year, the smooth-swinging left-hander chalked up victories in four major junior events to earn an invite to a practice session for the Walker Cup that pits the top US amateurs against their counterparts from Britain and Ireland. He was the only junior to swing a club there.

Big step

Bhatia began 2019 by winning the annual Jones Cup, a category A event for amateurs that puts it amongst the top 30 such events worldwide. He is slated to make his debut at a PGA Tour event at the Valspar Championship alongside the big guns later this month.

According to AmateurGolf.com, Myrtle Beach, which hosts the 54-hole junior event, is where the Dustin Johnson Golf School is located and Allen Terrell, one of Bhatia’s instructors, is the director of coaching there.

Bhatia’s 10-under total equalled TPC Myrtle Beach’s 54-hole tournament record, and he also broke the standing Dustin Johnson Junior scoring record of 5-under 211. According to the report, Akshay creates 118 mph of club-head speed, and a ball speed in the high 160s.

Chandra, Rashid lead in Chittagong Open

Meanwhile, in Chittagong, Bangladesh,Yashas Chandra M.S. and Rashid Khan hit flawless rounds of 7-under-65s to share the first round lead at the third edition of the City Bank American Express Chittagong Open on Wednesday.

Both players, appearing at the Bhatiary Golf & Country Club for the first time, led compatriots Sanjeev Kumar and Mohammad Sanju by one shot at the third event of the Tata Steel PGTI schedule.

Md Sajib Ali was the highest-placed Bangladesh golfer in tied fifth with a 5-under 67.

Yashas Chandra, playing in Bangladesh for the first time, struck the ball cleanly and converted all his opportunities on the greens. The 2018 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year, made the turn at two-under.

Further gains

The 24-year-old from Mysore then made further inroads with his driving and approach shots to pick up three birdies and an eagle.

Yashas said, “I really enjoyed my first competitive round in Bangladesh. I made 16 greens in regulation which in turn set up the round for me. My putting was also on the mark. I was never in trouble at any stage and never looked like dropping a shot as I kept landing it close.

“I took a lot of positives from my rookie season last year. I feel I’m now building on that solid foundation.”

Two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid Khan, who was also error-free, produced some quality chip-putts for four of his seven birdies. His longest conversion of the day, a 15-footer, came on the 12^th. Rashid made birdies on all the four par-5 holes.

Out to make good

Rashid said, “Tee shots are extremely crucial at this course as one needs to find the fairways to be in a position to land it on the greens which are relatively smaller in size. It’s a good start for me and I’ll look to capitalise on it from here on.”

Sajib Ali too came up with a bogey-free effort and his 67 placed him tied fifth alongside Mukesh Kumar, Honey Baisoya, Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Veer Ahlawat.

Defending champion N. Thangaraja of Sri Lanka and Md Zamal Hossain Mollah, one of Bangladesh’s top golfers, were both tied 19^th with two-under-70s.

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