Akshay Bhatia Topic

[iacas]

He turned pro, and missed the cut (-5) by shooting E in his first two rounds at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

It was his third straight missed cut in three events as a professional.

Bhatia, 17, having fun despite third straight MC

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Akshay Bhatia missed the cut Friday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, but says learning on the job in his first three professional starts is helping him improve along the way.

 

[DeadMan]

No Laying Up had a podcast with him last week or the week before. I came away with mixed feelings from that podcast. I was impressed with how well he handled himself on the interview, and he seems pretty driven. On the other hand, he seemed a little naive. I forget exactly what he said that gave me that feeling - it might have been him talking about his plans if he doesn't get special temporary exemption on the PGA Tour or get through KF Tour Q-School. 

Anyways, it's going to be interesting to see how he fares. He's trying a path that hasn't been done at his age. And the path he's trying has basically been done by only a few elite golfers (Speith, Rahm, Neimann, for example). He seems like he's really freaking good at golf, but who knows if he's good enough. 

[Vinsk]

26 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

He seems like he's really freaking good at golf, but who knows if he's good enough. 

Nope. He’s a dime a dozen trying to find a needle in a haystack. 

[DeadMan]

5 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Nope. He’s a dime a dozen trying to find a needle in a haystack. 

Do you know anything about him? 

[Vinsk]

21 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

Do you know anything about him? 

As much as anyone as far as his golf accomplishments. 2018 US Junior Championship runner up. A couple of silver metals in some national junior event I believe ( not gold). Home schooled and passed on college to go pro where he’s so far missed 3/3 cuts. I’m not discussing his character, just a golf viewpoint where I’ve seen nothing other than a talented young golfer which is...a dime a dozen. He’s only getting press for skipping college and going pro so young.

[jmanbooyaa]

I don’t know much about him besides the common skipped college. He does look very thin compared to the other pros. Perhaps a year in college could have benefited him. 

[klineka]

1 hour ago, jmanbooyaa said:

He does look very thin compared to the other pros. Perhaps a year in college could have benefited him. 

Benefited him how? It's not like he is lacking for club head speed or distance due to his size.

He averages 119 mph club head speed and has gotten it up to 124.8 mph on video.

Limited sample size, but so far this season his average driving distance (36th at 318 yds) is further than Bryson, JT and Phil.

Here are his strokes gained thus far

Off the Tee -.220

Approach the green -.508

Around the green  -1.053

Putting +.132

[DeadMan]

8 hours ago, Vinsk said:

As much as anyone as far as his golf accomplishments. 2018 US Junior Championship runner up. A couple of silver metals in some national junior event I believe ( not gold). Home schooled and passed on college to go pro where he’s so far missed 3/3 cuts. I’m not discussing his character, just a golf viewpoint where I’ve seen nothing other than a talented young golfer which is...a dime a dozen. He’s only getting press for skipping college and going pro so young.

Eh, calling him a dime a dozen isn't fair to what he's accomplished. Being the #4 amateur golfer in the world as a 17 year old is pretty impressive. He's also made it to match play of the US Am twice (as a 16 and 17 year old). He's also Monday qualified for a KF Tour event. He doesn't have the amateur pedigree of someone like Spieth, but he's not too far off.

It may not be enough, especially right now, to get him a PGA Tour card. But just based on his amateur results at such a young age puts him in some elite company.

[Wally Fairway]

29 minutes ago, klineka said:

Benefited him how? It's not like he is lacking for club head speed or distance due to his size.

Maturity, being around upper classmen and playing against college talent not junior talent
Training table, getting with a nutrition and workout team
It isn't like a year or two in college would kill his chances 

Kids who try this struggle to play with 25-50 year olds, it takes more than the ability to hit a golf ball to be successful; google Ty Tryon

[DeadMan]

28 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

Maturity, being around upper classmen and playing against college talent not junior talent
Training table, getting with a nutrition and workout team
It isn't like a year or two in college would kill his chances 

Kids who try this struggle to play with 25-50 year olds, it takes more than the ability to hit a golf ball to be successful; google Ty Tryon

The other thing he's missing is the chance to prove that he's good enough to beat college players consistently. He hasn't played in a ton of amateur events that are open to college players, so he hasn't shown that. And if you can't beat college players, you're probably not going to be beating a bunch of touring pros. He's an incredible junior player, but who knows if he would be an incredible college player, let alone tour player.

I do think that taking the Spieth route of one year of college would make a lot of sense for Akshay. But, it's not my life. And I think he got a pretty good endorsement deal from Callaway when he turned pro. He's probably pretty set for life now, regardless of whether he makes it as a touring pro.

[klineka]

33 minutes ago, Wally Fairway said:

Training table, getting with a nutrition and workout team

He can do that (likely easier and better) outside of college too.

All that I am saying is that as of right now his size does not appear to be a limiting factor like @jmanbooyaa mentioned.

[Vinsk]

4 hours ago, DeadMan said:

Eh, calling him a dime a dozen isn't fair to what he's accomplished

I still stand by it as far as the big picture which is: A talented young golfer who’s dream is to win on the PGA Tour. He has an impressive CV to date. He’ll get his first win in about 3-4 years at best. Has nothing to do with being fair. It’s just a cold reality based on the extreme difficulty it is to win on the tour. He obviously has some financial backing so let’s not get too Randolph Juna with him.

[GolfLug]

@Vinsk they are all dime a dozen until they are not. 

Don't know a great deal about him but seems like all the tools for pga tour level career are there. 

He does seem a bit raw but is just a teen. All we can hope is that he has a solid support system that will see him through his learning phase. 

Having said that because of the prevalent parity on tour lately I think it unwise to think someone who can move a ball like he can has no chance of winning for another 3-4 years. 

He seems fun to watch though.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, GolfLug said:

@Vinsk they are all dime a dozen until they are not. 

Don't know a great deal about him but seems like all the tools for pga tour level career are there. 

He does seem a bit raw but is just a teen. All we can hope is that he has a solid support system that will see him through his learning phase. 

Having said that because of the prevalent parity on tour lately I think it unwise to think someone who can move a ball like he can has no chance of winning for another 3-4 years. 

He seems fun to watch though.

We’ll see.

[iacas]

33 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

We’ll see.

Please name another eleven who have done what he’s done at 17 in the last five years.

[Vinsk]

59 minutes ago, iacas said:

Please name another eleven who have done what he’s done at 17 in the last five years.

Completely irrelevant. What I do know is he’s got an impressive resume to date. Not a resume that makes me think he’s gonna get a tour win anytime soon. I don’t know the details of his wins that were listed but they don’t stand out to me as phenomenal. They’re impressive, I suppose, but what’s got people thinking he’s gonna come out and win on the PGA TOUR? That he’s missed three cuts? That he’s playing in the Monday qualifier for Houston? I hope he does win. It’ll be a great story. But I’m predicting a win after 3-4 years. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

Completely irrelevant.

Not remotely accurate. You said a dime a dozen, and I gave you five years to name a dozen (which one would pay more than a dime for).

6 hours ago, Vinsk said:

I still stand by it as far as the big picture which is: A talented young golfer who’s dream is to win on the PGA Tour. He has an impressive CV to date. He’ll get his first win in about 3-4 years at best. Has nothing to do with being fair. It’s just a cold reality based on the extreme difficulty it is to win on the tour. He obviously has some financial backing so let’s not get too Randolph Juna with him.

This is the first use of the word "win" in this topic. It's by you.

[Vinsk]

29 minutes ago, iacas said:

Not remotely accurate. You said a dime a dozen, and I gave you five years to name a dozen (which one would pay more than a dime for).

This is the first use of the word "win" in this topic. It's by you.

I don’t know what Tiger, Spieth, Rory, Koepka or any other successful PGA Tour golfer had accomplished by age 17. As I said I don’t know the significance of what he has accomplished to date. I’ve never heard of the tournaments he got a ‘silver metal’ for. 
 If it will appease you I’ll say he’s the most phenomenal golfer of all time at age 17. Surpasses Tiger by a landslide in his accomplishments by age 17. If he’s able to get on the tour and make some cuts at 17-18 years old...amazing for sure. I mentioned ‘win’ so what? I thought this was a discussion about him? I would think him winning a tournament might be something to ponder. 
 

If it was just to argue that he’s not a dime a dozen ...so be it. He’s 17 and missed three cuts so far....I bet there’s a lot of 17 year old golfers who could do that as well.