– Akshay Bhatia (-15) handed in a 68-stroke card this Saturday on the third day of the Valero Texas Open to put his second victory on the PGA Tour within reach. He has a four-stroke lead over Denny McCarthy (-11), seven over Brendon Todd (-8), and eight over Hideki Matsuyama (-7) and Russell Henley (-7).
– Bhatia could wrap up a beautiful story this Sunday. If he wins, he will qualify for the Masters, becoming the first participant of the Drive, Chip and Putt, a contest for children held at Augusta National the Sunday before the tournament, who plays the Major. He competed in it in 2014 and finished sixth in the 12-13 year old category.
– The leader is 22 years old, left-handed, and of Indian origin. On Saturday, before going out to play his round and after a conversation with his psychologist, he wrote a message on his wrist: race my race. Which is something like “you, do your thing”, worry only about your own and don’t look at others. It didn’t go badly for him at all.
– Everything points to a duel between Bhatia and McCarthy, since the rest of the players are too far away. McCarthy, probably the best putter in the world at the moment, is doing his thing at the TPC San Antonio. In three rounds he accumulates 70 putts. The historical record of the PGA Tour since these data are counted is in danger. It is held by David Frost with 92 putts at the 2005 Heritage. The magic number this Sunday is 21 putts. If anyone can do it, it’s McCarthy. And if he does, he will put Bhatia against the ropes.
– Ludvig Aberg (-6) has moved into sixth position after signing a sensational round of 67 strokes in the third round. Once again in the top positions. However, the most striking thing about his round was that he broke the driver during the tee shot on hole 17, a 300-yard par 4 where you can go from one to green. The Swede executed the shot and the head came off the shaft. The most incredible thing was that the ball ended up on the green with a clear eagle opportunity.
– Rory McIlroy (-5) has dropped out of the fight for victory. Although players like him can never be ruled out, the truth is that he is far from the lead. Ten strokes seem too many. The Northern Irishman’s main problem this Saturday was the driver. He only hit four fairways, too few to be competitive. This is the bad thing thinking about Augusta. The good thing is that catching four fairways, on a very demanding course, he managed to sign a par round.
