After life on Tour, Akshay Bhatia obtained candid about what he’d inform his younger self.
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Akshay Bhatia has seen himself shortly change into a fan favourite, with the 21-year-old lately incomes his first PGA Tour victory at the Barracuda Championship.
Despite barely being the authorized age to drink a beer, Bhatia admits that he’s realized loads about himself from his quick time on Tour, which solely started in 2019. And whereas he says that the win at the Barracuda offers him a way of validation now, he stays hungry for extra.
“I don’t think my mindset changes,” he says. “Obviously, I wish to exit and play good golf and have a superb week and earn my spot into the Playoffs subsequent week. But I feel it’s slightly extra liberating.
“I know how to do it, I have done it, I know the emotions that go into it.”
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As he prepares for this week’s Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., he opened up about how he’s modified as a participant since turning professional.
“I mean, I didn’t know what to think when I was 17, it was just the coolest thing to play PGA Tour events and travel the world and get courtesy cars,” he mentioned.
“I don’t understand how I might clarify my journey with the pandemic and being 17; couldn’t hire automobiles, then taking part in Korn Ferry Tour, successful, then hurting myself. It was simply a whole lot of various things went on that I wouldn’t have imagined that would occur.
“But for it to happen now at 21 with special temporary membership, everything that went on this year is pretty gratifying.”
So what precisely would he inform his younger self after experiencing the Tour for just a few years?
“I mean, it’s very hard,” he admits. “I felt like in junior golf I used to be all the time form of No. 1 in my class and I felt like I used to be so good that it was going to be simple popping out right here, nevertheless it actually isn’t.
“You have to work so hard to get out here. So when I turned pro, I felt like I was ready, but I really wasn’t,” he mentioned. “I’ve really realized that.”
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The primary distinction that Bhatia sees is in his preparation and the sacrifices he has to make to compete every week — because it’s not all the time about hitting balls for hours, however rather more about taking good care of his physique.
“You’ve got to not practice as much as — like, as much as you want as a kid, you’ve got to really take care of your body,” he provides.
“I might say schedule-wise, it’s a must to be actually good about it. I imply, from figuring out to consuming to sleeping, you’ve obtained to sacrifice loads.
“There’s so many things that go on when you’re out here because you’re playing four, five weeks in a row, you’re traveling anywhere and everywhere. It’s just you sacrifice a little bit of the fun part of going to see some cities or whatever it may be, and you’ve just got to really just be disciplined in everything you do.”
Even for beginner golfers on the market, Bhatia’s lesson is a reminder to assume larger image, and never all the time concentrate on simply the golf swing. It means making ready your self mentally and bodily, so that you’re sharp every time you step foot on the golf course.
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