MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 13, 2024

Akshay Bhatia

Quick Quotes

Q. You had a pretty decent front nine. You posted pretty well, especially with the two birdies.

AKSHAY BHATIA: No, I started out great. I still feel like you want to be able to play a really good round and get yourself somewhat in contention. 1-under is pretty good, I think, looking at some of these scores.

It was a tough way to end. It's pretty disappointing, but I've got one more day to kind of charge up the leaderboard.

Q. Could you just talk us through some of your best holes today.

AKSHAY BHATIA: I hit a really nice pitch on 3 today to a couple feet, and that putt broke a lot from four or five feet. So it was nice to birdie that hole. I feel like I hit it a little better today, but this whole week's kind of been off.

I'm sure it's a lot of mental fatigue and everything. Yeah, I've hit some nice shots. It's just hard to get it close here. I'm still learning that. Just figuring out when to be aggressive, when not to be.

If you're in the fairway, which isn't too hard to be out here, it's not too bad, but there's still so many shots you're thinking about how am I going to get this on the green?

Q. Akshay, talk about Amen Corner from a player's perspective. It's your first time out here. What do you think of that little stretch there with the fans and everything else?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, it's cool. The amount of times I've watched it on TV is a lot, and to kind of actually live that in reality is pretty cool. It's a weird kind of feeling because you get on that tee and everyone is kind of applausing. You get on that green, and you don't hear any claps. So that's something I never expected.

And just kind of the whole aura of the place is amazing, but that's kind of an extra special place. It was the first time I walked on -- is it Hogan's Bridge on 15? That was the first time I did that, and that was pretty cool.

Q. How was it like playing with Shane? Did you see something in how he manages this course a little bit?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Not too much. I mean, he drives it really good. So it's kind of the name of the game here. You hit it in the fairway, you can have some opportunities. Yeah, he's hit some great shots. I haven't learned too much from him, kind of focusing on myself.

But we both kind of struggled today. Hopefully we can a good round tomorrow.

Q. Akshay, is the mental fatigue coming mainly from having to chase the small slivers that are necessary here at Augusta?

AKSHAY BHATIA: No, this is seven weeks in a row for me playing. It's just a lot of golf. Then when you come to a major last minute, especially with the highs of winning, it's pretty challenging.

So it's something I haven't learned to do yet. When I won, I had a week off. Coming to Augusta National is really hard, and trying to prepare but not too much, it's just a fine balance.

Q. What might you want to kind of look for tomorrow, one final say, knowing all the information you have?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I'd like to shoot under par tomorrow pretty much.

Q. Do you think you have a 67 in you tomorrow?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Anything under par I think is good.