Bhatia, who set the course alight with a 62 on the first day, had two birdies and two bogeys on the third day, as Tommy Fleetwood survived some hiccups on the way to a 1-under 69 but stayed in sole lead at 14-under.
The 23-year-old Bhatia, already a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, delivered a stellar performance marked by seven birdies and an eagle against one bogey. He made the turn at 4-under, then picked up another birdie on the 11th before briefly slipping with a bogey at 12. But his finish was spe
Akshay Bhatia and Aaron Rai, two of the three Indian-origin at the 89th Masters, were on the front page of the leaderboard at the end of opening day, which had a lot of big names led by Justin Rose, who shot a 7-under 65.
Six-time PGA TOUR winner Jimmy Walker, who has one top-10 in his last 98 starts on TOUR, holds the 36-hole lead or the co-lead for the ninth time on the PGA TOUR. Walker has missed eight cuts in his past 12 events.