AUGUSTA, Ga. — The powers that be at Augusta National — those wearing the green jackets — are fond of thumping their collective chests about “growing the game.’’
That phrase, particularly overused by LIV Golf as it’s poached some of the biggest names in golf and best players on the PGA Tour, can often induce a good bit of eye rolling.
And justifiably so.
Because in the case of LIV Golf, the only things that seem to be growing are the bank accounts of the players who made the move to the Saudi-backed tour. And more power to them for taking the money, because it’s not like the powers that run the PGA Tour haven’t been padding their respective wallets and purses with countless millions for years.
That cynicism about “growing the game’’ aside, you can make a pretty good argument for Augusta National, indeed, doing its part in helping grow the game of golf.
If you’re looking for a poster child that illustrates what Augusta’s Drive, Chip and Putt has done to grow the game, let us introduce you to one of the 89 players in the field at this week’s Masters: Akshay Bhatia.
Ten years ago, at age 12, Bhatia placed sixth in the age 12-13 group in what was the first-ever staging of the Drive, Chip and Putt.
On Sunday, his win at the Valero Texas Open, which qualified him into the field this week at Augusta National, made him the first player who’d participated in the Drive, Chip and Putt to qualify for the Masters.
Pretty heady stuff, indeed, for the 22-year-old from LA who’s so slender he probably weighs the same as he did in 2014, when he first came to Augusta for that skills competition.
What a ride it’s been.
“It’s everything you dream of as a kid, and being the first to play in the inaugural [Drive, Chip and Putt] was unbelievable,” Bhatia said last month at the Players Championship. “I remember being in Augusta, getting in an elevator at the hotel and John Daly was standing there. I could not believe it.”
Now, he has even more special and meaningful memories to live out.
“That first time at the Drive, Chip and Putt is pretty surreal as a kid,’’ Bhatia recalled Monday. “You just don’t realize how lucky we are to have that opportunity.’’
That opportunity has turned into a PGA Tour career that includes two victories, with his first coming at the Barracuda Championship last year. Because that’s an opposite-field event (to the British Open) the win did not come with a Masters invite. The win at Valero, a stand-alone PGA Tour event, did.
Bhatia owned the week in San Antonio, going wire-to-wire in victory. But the win didn’t come without significant stress at the end thanks to Denny McCarthy running him down on the back nine with a 28 that included eight birdies.
Bhatia led by six shots with nine holes to play and had to make a 12-foot birdie to match the 15-footer that McCarthy had just buried on 18 to take a temporary one-shot lead to force the playoff.
Bhatia won on the first playoff hole thanks to McCarthy chunking his approach shot into a creek on 18. And he did it after throwing his left shoulder out of its socket with the violent fist pump he threw when he made the tournament-tying birdie putt on 18. Bhatia needed his physiotherapist to come onto the course and tape his shoulder on the playoff hole in a bizarre scene.
Now as one of the few players of Indian heritage on the PGA Tour, Bhatia has a chance to pay it forward in growing the game in his native country. He and Sahith Theegala are the two prominent players of Indian decent on the PGA Tour.
“I don’t know if I quite realize what Sahith and I can do for the golf in India, [but] 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,’’ Bhatia said. “It’s awesome just being able to grow the game just not in the States, but in India. It’s special to us. The development we can accomplish for people over there is really cool.’’
Bhatia said one of his fondest memories of the Drive, Chip and Putt came when he watched a Masters practice round from the grandstands on No. 4.
“It was just so surreal,’’ he said. “I remember how bad I wanted to be out there and not just watching. Now, being here and being the first Drive, Chip and Putt participant in the Masters is really cool. I’m hoping this can inspire a lot of kids that are having the opportunity to play.’’
Now that’s growing the game.
