MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 14, 2024

Akshay Bhatia

Quick Quotes

Q. Nice finish.

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, not bad. Still kind of struggled today, but I hit some good shots. This golf course is hard, so I've got to learn a lot.

Q. Is it the speed of the greens or is it just everything?

AKSHAY BHATIA: It's just knowing the place a little bit more. I didn't take advantage of the par-5s this week I felt like. Yeah, some greens were really firm. I didn't hit the green once on 12. You've got a lot to learn, and hopefully many more experiences will help me do that.

Q. What club did you use (indiscernible)?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I hit 9-iron.

Q. Then when you took the drop?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Just lob wedge.

Q. What's the week like? Did it live up to your expectations?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I don't know if I could -- I haven't truly understood what's happened the last couple weeks. Everything about it is amazing. Volunteers, all the green jackets, they were so kind, so welcoming, so congratulating. Just the kind of feelings I had of being very important here is awesome.

I think being my first Masters, it's pretty cool kind of being the last person in. All in all, it was an awesome week. Had a lot of family out there, and it was a special week for a lot of us.

Q. (On Phil and Sahith's expectations for him).

AKSHAY BHATIA: It's nice that I get support from players just like I do Sahith. I think he's one of the most talented players out here. Every time I've played with him, it's just been unbelievable. He gets it up-and-down from everywhere. It's just always cool from your peers, them complimenting you, because everyone is really good out here. When they expect you to be really good throughout your career, I think it just shows the respect from everyone.

Q. When you talk to some of the other players, do you usually ask them a lot of questions or just watch them?

AKSHAY BHATIA: It depends who it is. I ask Phil a lot of questions, especially around here. It was nice to play a practice round with him and understand certain conditions and everything. Other players, we just kind of --

Q. Who else would you have spoken with?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I don't speak to too many people. Jon Rahm obviously won here last year, so I texted him kind of what to expect. But yeah, not too many people. I just kind of do my own thing and try and figure it out on my own because taking ownership of what you have is important, so I just tried to do that this week.

Q. When are you making the first trip to India?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Ooh, I am not sure. Obviously I was supposed to go in 2019, and now that I'm a little more established out here, I think I have a little more freedom to kind of travel internationally, especially to India, so I'm hoping hopefully next year I can make a trip over to the HERO Open.

Q. Five years as a pro; do you think you outweighed where you thought you would be when you turned pro?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I thought I would get here at some point, yeah. Timeline, not sure, but yeah, I believed I was going to get -- I was going to be on the PGA TOUR at some point. I didn't know how long that was going to take, but I always believed it, always kind of expected it out of myself, and it was a harder road than I expected probably.

But as a kid, you dream about getting out here really fast and playing major championships.

Q. Parents happy?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, I think so. They're always happy no matter what. My dad feels like we kind of got to where he wanted me to get to, being on the PGA TOUR, and I think everything from here on is kind of icing on the cake.

Q. (On who he works with).

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, my physio Aki Tajima, he was a new addition this year. Just the amount of travel I had, having someone who's consistent helping me work out on the road is important. My body has felt a lot better starting the year.

Then my swing coach, Chase Duncan, he's been with me for a long time, since 2015. He's wanted nothing but the best for me. He's put me first in a lot of situations, and I'm very appreciative of him.

Obviously my agent has been there since I was a teenager. Him watching me blossom and grow is really cool. I think he had a lot of belief in me, obviously, and that's kind of why I decided to sign with them, because they're very family oriented, as I am myself, and then Steven Sweeney with my putting. He's been awesome, just helped me a lot, made me feel a little bit better about myself and how good I truly am on the greens. Beyoncé, as well. She's my rock. She is amazing. She's a big part of my life, and I wouldn't be here without her.

Q. If you had to pick two or three shots from this week that were memorable, which were they be?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Too many short game shots I've hit this week would be nasty. I would say there's too many to count. I hit one on hole 1 that was back of the green that was really filthy, and then I've just hit some sick flop shots, bunker shots. Honestly the one on 16, second round, was unbelievable. Short-sided, running away. Yeah, that one was sweet.