‘A Different Challenge’: Akshay Bhatia Gets Candid on the Reason Behind His Controversial Putting Decision for the Sentry

Who might win the Sentry in 2024? The answer to this question remains as unpredictable as the top five on the Sentry leaderboard keep drastically changing after every round. This time, after the third round, Chris Kirk and Akshay Bhatia took the first and second seats on the leaderboard for themselves, respectively.

After securing his first PGA Tour win in 2023, Bhatia might bag another victory at the Sentry if he continues his bogey-free run. Much of Bhatia’s exponential rise on the board could be attributed to the recent changes the golfer made in his bag. Bhatia even went ahead and revealed the reason why he had opted for the huge change.

Akshay Bhatia discloses the reason behind the change

In 2013, the R&A and USGA banned the usage of a long putter when anchored by the body, but without it, it was perfectly fine to use, and Bhatia has done just that and changed his regular putter to a broomstick putter.

After using the broomstick putter for the first time at the Fortinet Championship for a round and three rounds at the RSM Classic, this would be the first “Full week,” of Bhatia with the broomstick putter. The one-time PGA Tour winner explained that after looking at his “not good” putting stats, he discussed them with his mental coach putting coach, and swing coach before making the big decision.

“For me, the speed’s just a lot easier. Longer putts you just kind of feels a little more free,” said Bhatia. Moreover, he expressed that the long putter allows him, “not thinking as much,” because he is “just kind of visualizing and then hitting. It’s a lot more freeing and, yeah, it’s fun to, just kind of working with it.”

After the conclusion of round three, Bhatia is 20 under, with only two bogeys made in all three rounds. The 21-year-old had described that although the stats are a bit “skewed” at times, he found it suitable to change his putter for a better putting score. Moreover, the young golfer noted that putting in Hawaiian wind would be “a different challenge” but will be looking forward to a better result. Before the big putter change, how was Bhatia’s putting?

An overview of Bhatia’s stats

Currently, Akshay Bhatia is leading the 59 players’ field in strokes gained and is the third one on the stroke gained putting list. However, when compared to the Californian golfer’s last year’s putting rank, it has changed significantly and jumped 180 places just looking at the first event.

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Bhatia stood 183rd on the PGA Tour’s Stroke Gained: Putting list and could not make as successful putts as he has done now. After three rounds at The Sentry 2024, the change in putter seems to be paying off. Will Akshay Bhatia be able to win twice on the PGA Tour before turning 22 and etch his name in the annals of golf history alongside Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods?

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