Akshay Bhatia gets the better of Denny McCarthy in a play-off to win at TPC San Antonio
TPC San Antonio was the venue for Valero Texas Open. The field for Valero Texas Open included major champions Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth. 82 players made the halfway cut on +2 but both Padraig Harrington & Seamus Power had to settle for a weekend off. Akshay Bhatia -15 shot rounds of 63, 70,68 and took a four-shot lead over Denny McCarthy -11 into the final round. Sunday’s final group was Bhatia, McCarthy and Brendon Todd.
Bhatia got off to a sensational start with playing holes one to four in -3 to reach -18. McCarthy -12 reduced Bhatia’s lead to six due to a birdie at the fourth hole. After nine holes Bhatia remained -18 and his nearest challenger was McCarthy on -12. A two-shot swing at the 10th hole with McCarthy reaching -13 and a Bhatia dropping back to -17. The gap at the top of leaderboard returned to five shots due to a birdie by Bhatia at 11.
McCarthy advanced to -17 due to four incredible birdies at 12,13,14,15 and trailed Bhatia by two shots heading to 16th tee. McCarthy found a hot flatstick on the back nine as he held a 10 foot birdie putt at 16 and Bhatia’s lead was shrunk to one shot. An exciting final two holes especially with 17 a drivable par four and 18 a reachable par five. McCarthy and Bhatia head to the 72nd hole joint leaders on -19. McCarthy created history with a new nine-hole record of 28 at San Antonio to finish -20. Bhatia finished with a birdie to shoot 67 and tied McCarthy on -20.
The first play-off hole between Bhatia and McCarthy took place at the 18th hole. Bhatia was forced to call a time out before hitting his third shot due to developing a shoulder issue. A surprise that McCarthy found the penalty area with his third shot and a birdie by Bhatia was good enough to win Valero Texas Open. Bhatia wins his second PGA Tour event and books a ticket to Augusta.
Rory McIlroy shot rounds of 68,70,72 and started day four -5. McIlroy got a recent lesson from Butch Harmon and showed signs of his iron game improving especially with playing the front nine in -3. McIlroy advanced to -9 due to holing his birdie putt at the 10th hole. The Northern Irishman made it two birdies in a row at the 11th hole to reach -10. McIlroy finished with a birdie at 18 and shot a sensational bogey free -6 round of 66. A timely confidence boost for McIlroy as a third place -11 in Texas is his best PGA Tour finish so far in 2024.
Russell Henly was only the fourth player to finish 72 holes in double figures and -10 was good enough for fourth place. Todd and Adam Schenk made up the top five on -9. Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama both finished tied seventh on -8. Major champions Fitzpatrick and Spieth finish tied 10th on -6.