Sahith Theegala and Akshay Bhatia dial resilience to fight the Masters battle
Sahith Theegala, in his second Masters, and Akshay Bhatia, in his first are learning this enduring characteristic of Augusta National one painstaking hole at a time. The American Indian train is chugging along nicely, driven mainly by the steely determination of these two young men, but a big impression might have to wait at least another year. On Saturday, both Sahith (6-over 222) and Akshay (221) made 74, clawing their way around the course riding their stellar temperament.
The 18th hole was a suitable sample for the kind of spirit that has pervaded Sahith’s journey this week.
He pulled his tee shot just a little, to invite just the kind of punishment that Augusta deals to golfers at the slightest miss. Sahith showed terrific presence of mind to avoid any heroics, bringing the ball back into play, before nailing his approach with a seven-iron to just six feet. When dialed in, Sahith produces magic, as he did at the 16th hole last year.
The par-save at the 18th will make the rolling highlights too for its measured brilliance.
“I've hit the fairway 6 out of 6 times coming into today. And I just toed it a little bit today. Still I thought it would be fine.
It landed in the fairway, kicked left. We could see it go into the magnolia. I didn't know that one magnolia is all the way to the ground,” lamented Sahith, as amused as he was relieved to walk away without damage.
“So, my ball was wedged in between two branches, like two yards off the fairway. I'm looking at the fairway there. I didn't know if I could play it or not.”
