Akshay Bhatia Topic

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

If it will appease you I’ll say he’s the most phenomenal golfer of all time at age 17.

That does not. You said, disparagingly, "dime a dozen." You've thus far failed to name even one such 17-year-old with an equivalent or better résumé.

4 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

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. 

Oy.

[Vinsk]

19 minutes ago, iacas said:

That does not. You said, disparagingly, "dime a dozen." You've thus far failed to name even one such 17-year-old with an equivalent or better résumé.

His resume may not be equaled by any other 17yr old golfers. I’m saying he’s a talented young golfer who wants to make a go at the PGA Tour....that in of itself is a dime a dozen. And I’m saying despite his resume I ( perhaps ignorantly) do not find his accomplishments to be breath taking. 

24 minutes ago, iacas said:

That does not. You said, disparagingly, "dime a dozen." You've thus far failed to name even one such 17-year-old with an equivalent or better résumé.

His resume may not be equaled by any other 17yr old golfers. I’m saying he’s a talented young golfer who wants to make a go at the PGA Tour....that in of itself is a dime a dozen. And I’m saying despite his resume I ( perhaps ignorantly) do not find his accomplishments to be breath taking. 
 

Reading Jordan Spieth’s early career days...more impressive than Bhatia.

[iacas]

You continue to contradict yourself.

[Vinsk]

4 minutes ago, iacas said:

You continue to contradict yourself.

FFS you’re so focused on the ‘dime a dozen’ Erik. Fine ...I was wrong. He’s incredibly unique and nobody compares to him at 17. That being said, I don’t see him doing anything remarkable regarding the PGA Tour...it’s just too difficult and his stats don’t make me jump all over the place with enthusiasm.

As Akshay Bhatia makes his pro debut, how have other high school prodigies fared in professional golf? - Golf Digest

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[leftybutnotPM]

6 hours ago, Vinsk said:

 If it will appease you I’ll say he’s the most phenomenal golfer of all time at age 17.

What complete and utter horsesh*t.

At 17, only a fool would have bet that Rory or Tiger would not be #1 in the world at some stage. 

At the moment, you wouldn't bet money on Bhatia playing on the PGATour in 5 years time.

 

[David in FL]

Anyone remember a dude named Justin Rose?

He jumped in with both feet way too early.   I give him all the credit in the world for persevering, but I think that a collegiate amateur route might have gotten him where he is now quicker. 

Time will tell, but so far all he is is another rookie struggling to make cuts.  Nothing special there.  It’ll be interesting to see if that changes anytime soon.

 

[klineka]

5 hours ago, leftybutnotPM said:

At the moment, you wouldn't bet money on Bhatia playing on the PGATour in 5 years time.

Depending on what the odds were, I'd likely take that bet, especially since it would just be for whether or not he is playing on the PGA tour, not if he has won or something.

[iacas]

11 hours ago, Vinsk said:

FFS you’re so focused on the ‘dime a dozen’ Erik. Fine ...I was wrong.

It was really dismissive of what he’d done. Rude. Wrong.

I’m not saying he’ll win in the PGA Tour, maybe ever, but you were denying what he had done.

Anyway…

I think he turned pro too early.

But whatever. It is his life.

[Vinsk]

4 minutes ago, iacas said:

It was really dismissive of what he’d done. Rude. Wrong.

I’m not saying he’ll win in the PGA Tour, maybe ever, but you were denying what he had done.

Anyway…

I think he turned pro too early.

But whatever. It is his life.

And I completely admitted I’m not aware as to the significance of his accomplishments. Rude? Hardly. Denied? Wrong. I think he went pro too early as well. 

2 hours ago, David in FL said:

he is is another rookie struggling to make cuts.  Nothing special there.

How rude....🙄

[David in FL]

16 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

 

How rude....🙄

[Vinsk]

I do think it’d be nice to see someone come out and explode again. It’s a lot to wish for being the field today. I don’t think Akshay is the one, but I’m ready for another Tiger to emerge....no @colin007...I’m not done with Tiger yet...just know the clock is ticking.

[DeadMan]

8 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I do think it’d be nice to see someone come out and explode again. It’s a lot to wish for being the field today. I don’t think Akshay is the one, but I’m ready for another Tiger to emerge....no @colin007...I’m not done with Tiger yet...just know the clock is ticking.

I'm not sure we're ever going to see a guy with an amateur career like Tiger again. Tiger won 2 US Junior Ams, and 3 US Ams. Akshay was ranked 4th in the world as a 17 year old, which is incredible. He never won a Junior Am, and he didn't come all that close to winning the Am. There's so much talent in the amateur ranks now. Matt Wolff won on the PGA Tour in his 4th start. He didn't come close to winning the Am or the Junior Am (although I think he was injured for the US Am in 2018, which he would have been a favorite for).

And, even with all that, guys with talents like Tiger come along once every 30 years maybe. If you think about Bobby Jones, then Jack, then Tiger, they're all about 30 years apart. The next Tiger may not be alive yet, and the next Tiger almost definitely won't dominate like Tiger did.

[jlbos83]

I would like to see him make it, and perhaps he will, but I don't think he is really ready.  It seems to me that the really young players who come out playing well beat everyone at their level and beat a lot of players at the next level, more or less playing out of their league.  Tiger certainly did that, and he still went to college.  Speith, again, incredibly talented, went to college.  Rahm, college.  There are always exceptions, but I don't see his resume as suggesting that he is better than those guys.  I think what he would have learned in college for a year or two, about golf, life, and himself, would have been a great benefit to him.

I think the jumped the gun, perhaps got bad advice, who knows?  It will be interesting to see.

[ncates00]

 

8 hours ago, David in FL said:

collegiate amateur route might have gotten him where he is now quicker. 

With respect to only a career in golf and not a "backup plan" in another career, what about going to college and having to take classes and spend so much time away from the course would be better for him?  I know he would likely take fluff classes, but still.  What about playing in college would help him more?  We say all the time to play with better players than yourself so that you can learn and watch how a better player does it.  Why, with his talent, waste time doing the college thing?  I don't understand what a college coach/fellow teammates is going to impart on him that he can't get going right in.  I'd say if he does these things, he'd be better off than going to college:

- get a good swing coach he believes in.

- get a launch monitor to maintain/develop his numbers and feel.

- get a good "manager" to deal with sponsorships and the like. 

- workout and train/recover like an athlete.

- treat this like a job and put in the long hours required.***

- probably other things I've not thought of.

 

*** in this respect, he has a huge upside over college golfer.  If he gets up at 5m and goes to work all day, he could really develop and do so possibly more quickly than he would have as a college golfer.

[Vinsk]

58 minutes ago, ncates00 said:

9 hours ago, David in FL said:

 

With respect to only a career in golf and not a "backup plan" in another career, what about going to college and having to take classes and spend so much time away from the course

He wouldn’t be pre-Med or pre-Law. Like you said, fluff courses. He would have plenty of time to be on the course. College isn’t what it used to be. 

[Wally Fairway]

Not to hijack, but maybe we should talk about Cole Hammer - Univ. of Texas player, on a sponsors exemption this week in Houston, 1st round -5, currently T7. 

[dennyjones]

I try to be unbiased because I really don't know his background as a person or player.    From what I've read here on the forum, it reminds me of so many great college basketball players that are very good but don't quite make it to the NBA and either settle for playing overseas or find another career.   

It's a major step from playing at the college level / amateur level to the highest professional level.  

I wish him well but only time will tell.   

[mchepp]

He probably should have gone to college, but maybe school isn't his gig. Meaning why struggle through classes you hate just to get out and play golf which is what you want to do anyways. I mean the odds of him play golf for a living are probably relatively high considering how good an amateur he was.

Plus he can always go back to school if golf isn't his future.