Akshay Bhatia remains atop the leaderboard at Pebble Beach Golf Links, site of arguably the worst break of his career.
Is redemption finally in order?
Bhatia fired a 4-under 68 Saturday to take a two-shot lead entering Sunday’s final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Eight years ago, Bhatia was a 16-year-old hotshot, ranked No. 1 in junior golf and fresh off a runner-up finish to Michael Thorbjornsen at the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur. A few weeks later at the U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach, Bhatia earned the 11th seed for match play, drawing Bradford Tilley in the Round of 64.
After a birdie at the par-5 14th hole, Bhatia was 1 up on Tilley. But then something bizarre happened, as Bhatia was penalized for his caddie, Chris Darnell, taking impermissible transportation back from the bathroom on the 14th hole.
Darnell asked a man whom he believed to be a USGA rules official driving a golf cart if he could get a lift to the green to keep pace. The man said yes, though as it turned out, he was just a volunteer wearing a USGA pullover.
An actual rules official saw the violation, and Bhatia’s win on the hole was negated. Bhatia retook the lead two holes later, but he’d lose Nos. 17 and 19 to end his championship.
The rule prohibiting such transportation, now known as Model Local Rule G-6, was changed earlier this year to give tournament committees more freedom in applying the rule: “A committee can also later approve a ride that was accepted by a player under the mistaken belief that it was allowed, such as when it was reasonable for the player to believe that the person who offered the ride was authorized to do so as part of the competition.”
Way too late for Bhatia, who handled the misfortune that day with maturity.
“What can you do? I’ll have plenty of opportunities to play in this tournament, so I’m not too upset about it,” Bhatia told Golf Channel afterward. “It’s just frustrating because I deserved to win that match. That wasn’t the outcome I wanted, but I can’t do anything about it.”
Bhatia wouldn’t win a U.S. Amateur before turning pro, but on Sunday, he could finally capture a title at Pebble.