Ezra Shaw
Akshay Bhatia famously skipped playing golf in college to turn pro, last April he suddenly found himself in a different type of class room. And with a legendary professor.
Following a dramatic victory at the Valero Texas Open, the rising PGA Tour star had earned the last spot in the Masters. And as the year’s first major quickly approached, the young lefty turned to a much older one as he crammed for his Augusta National debut.
That, of course, would be three-time green jacket winner Phil Mickelson, with whom Bhatia played a practice round with. And as Akshay revealed on this week’s episode of The Loop podcast (below), he got a special look into how Mickelson thinks his way around the Masters.
“He’s got this notepad from, I think he said from 2003 maybe, of all his notes that he’s written down over the years of Augusta and, you know, what certain putts do or what certain chips do or certain conditions, everything about it,” Bhatia said. “I mean, it was mind blowing and something that takes a lot of dedication, a lot of work, obviously a lot of experience too.”
Bhatia went on to explain just how meticulous Mickelson’s notes are as they practiced to certain spots on the green.
“He pulls his notepad out and he goes ‘All right, so this putt, like most guys leave it about 7-8 feet short,'” Bhatia recalls. “And so I hit my first putt left about 7-8 feet short. And so he turned back around and he said, ‘Yeah, so this putt is gonna break like about a foot left to right. . . you just gotta make sure you get it, you gotta hit it a little harder than you think.’ And so he hits it and he makes it right into the kind of the fake hole.”
Pretty amazing. Not that Bhatia needs much help. Despite the rushed prep, he finished T-35 as a Masters rookie. It was part of a breakout year in which the 22-year-old won a second PGA Tour title and qualified for his first Tour Championship. Heading into 2025, Bhatia also inked a deal with TravisMathew. You can check out his near TravisMathew looks here.
Akshay Bhatia and TravisMathew announced their new partnership to start 2025.
Atiba Jefferson for TravisMathew
Bhatia joined us to talk about his on-course style, playing with Phil, and hitting shots in front of Tiger. Plus, the guys give their New Year’s (gambling) resolutions and pick the winners of 2025’s major championships. Please have a listen:
