ARNOLD PALMER INVITATIONAL

March 8, 2026

Akshay Bhatia

Bay Hill Club and Lodge

Quick Quotes

Q. Good couple holes this morning. Did you get what you wanted out of these two holes?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah. Making par, par would be A plus. Obviously making a birdie on the last was A plus, plus. So very good.

Q. Did you find the greens a little softer this morning with the moisture in the air and everything?

AKSHAY BHATIA: I mean it was a guessing game. 17's a tough first shot. You don't know how far the ball's going, a little bit of moisture, a little bit of dew, a little colder. So it was just, like we hit some shots on Trackman this morning. And I hit it good, and I was, like I had no idea where that golf ball was, if it was short, long, or perfect.

Q. How do you reset now before the final round?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, just go do my normal stuff again. Just another day. I think it was great that I got to come out here, sometimes I think when you're teeing off so late there can be twiddling your thumbs a little bit. So it's good to come out, felt good. Felt like Boog and I were in a good mood this morning, which is nice.

Q. What's going to be your main focus in the final round to hopefully get it done this afternoon?

AKSHAY BHATIA: Yeah, just keep doing what I'm doing. That's the biggest thing. I think, like I said yesterday, statistically I'm like losing four and a half off the tee, which is really impressive to me to be in contention. I think I battled adversity before, it's nothing new to me. I think -- yesterday I hit it in the water on 3, still made par. And I felt like that settled me down, hitting it in the water. So, again, I'm going to feel excited, nervous, but I've been here these last couple weeks. This week I think it's a little more nerve wracking than others, just because it's such a tough golf course. But again, I'm excited to just keep doing what I'm doing.