SAN ANTONIO — The property at TPC San Antonio, home of the Valero Texas Open, is one of the most centralized on the PGA Tour, with the massive JW Marriott resort where most players stay towering over the 18th green, just a few steps from where the world's best golfers exit their rounds.
So many of the tournament's participants take time to soak up the resort's amenities and relax, especially with the Masters looming. But Akshay Bhatia is not one of those players. In fact, last year, after taking the 36-hole lead into the weekend, Bhatia sat with Smylie Kaufman for his then-fledgling "Happy Hour" TV segment, insisting he'd rather watch more golf than lounge in the lazy river.
But don't take Bhatia's lack of roaming the grounds as a sign that he's unhappy here in the Alamo City. A year ago, he finished off one of the most impressive and improbable wire-to-wire victories in recent memory, fending off a heroic charge by runner-up Denny McCarthy on Sunday afternoon, and finding his way into the winner's circle at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course for his second PGA Tour victory. That earned the phenom a berth in the 2024 Masters, marking his first professional start in a major.
The opportunity to come back and defend at the Oaks Course not only marks the spot of one of his greatest professional triumphs, but also one of his personal ones, as well. In 2022, Bhatia chatted with Presleigh Schultz via an Instagram DM, suggesting the two should meet up while he was in town.
The pair is now engaged.
"A year went by so fast. To be here, and obviously my first time defending a tournament, it's pretty cool. A lot of good memories. And yeah, I've always loved this event, a very special place for me and my fiancee, who we met here in 2022," he said. "I just love coming back here. The golf course is in great shape, so I look forward to, you know, playing this golf course again and playing in front of the great fans we have here in Texas."
And while Bhatia hasn't won since he did so here a year ago, he's certainly in fine form as he returns to the course designed by Greg Norman. Bhatia finished T-3 at The Players Championship, an effort that netted him a $1.3 million payday. And outside of a missed cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he's been sniffing around the top of the leaderboard consistently, including top-10 finishes at both the Genesis Invitational and the Mexico Open. He's currently 18th in the FedEx Cup standings at this early point in the season, the continuation of an impressive trend that saw him finish 102nd in 2023 and 26th last year.
And while he hopes to play well again in San Antonio, his mental approach is certainly different from what it was a year ago, when his only chance of following this trip with one to Augusta National was by winning the tournament.
"Last year, the Masters was such a long shot for me. I had my eyes set on trying to get into the U.S. Open based off of world ranking," he said. ...
