Akshay Bhatia went from one disaster to another throughout his entire front nine on Thursday at the Hero Indian Open.
Bhatia is delighted to be back in the country where his parents were born, and it’s obvious that he is very proud of his Indian heritage.
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However, his patience was tested to the limit on day one of the Indian Open.
Bhatia‘s round got off to an absolute nightmare start at the Hero Indian Open on Thursday after he went out of bounds with his first tee shot of the day.
He made a double bogey on his first hole before making a birdie on his second hole of the day.
Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images
However, that’s when the problems really began for the 24-year-old left-hander.
He played the final seven holes of his front nine in seven-over-par and ended up going out in 44.
Bhatia then showed his class by coming home in three-under-par 33 to shoot an opening round of 77.
Akshay Bhatia says if he can still win the Indian Open
Bhatia is very highly rated by his fellow professionals, and for good reason. He is an exceptional talent but he was severely punished for some uncharacteristically loose shots in India on Thursday.
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Bhatia addressed the media after his first round at the DLF Golf and Country Club.
The American is currently sitting 10 shots adrift of the first round leader, Freddy Schott.
He was asked whether he honestly believes he will still be able to win the golf tournament.
“Yeah, I mean, definitely just gotta get more comfortable with the golf course,“ Bhatia responded.
“It’s a tough golf course. I mean, I hit it OB on the 1st hole.
“So it’s just like, you can hit shots that are five, 10 yards off your line and just be really in a tough position.
Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images
“But all in all, I’m just gonna try and rest and just try and kind of continue the momentum I had on the back nine today.
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“It’s such a blessing (to be in Delhi).
“Yeah, I’m just so, so blessed to be here, and I look forward to spending a couple more days here, for sure.“
Akshay Bhatia opens up on ‘very unfortunate’ incident on day one in India
Bhatia endured one problem after another on his front nine in New Delhi on Thursday.
Bhatia was asked how he managed to cope with so many setbacks before shooting a hugely impressive 33 on his back nine.
“Yeah, glad I didn’t shoot 80,“ Bhatia said with a smile.
“Yeah, tough day. Hit the wrong ball, which was very unfortunate.
“Just to not play good on the first nine, and then, yeah, shooting 3 under on my backside is great, and, look, this golf course is hard, so if I can just try and get it back to even par, I think it’ll be, you know, a nice comeback for me.
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“I’ll never give up, and that’s kind of the goal.“
While winning the Indian Open may be just out of reach for Bhatia this week, if he manages to get back to even-par, it will be a fine week’s work for the American.
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