(San Antonio) Akshay Bhatia let his lead slip away, but he birdied the first overtime hole to win the Valero Texas Open on Sunday.
Denny McCarthy was six shots behind entering the second nine of the TPC San Antonio course and he made eight birdies in his last nine holes to give a card of 63 (minus-9).
Bhatia holed a 12-foot birdie putt to force overtime. This almost didn’t happen, because while celebrating, Bhatia felt her left shoulder come out of its base.
Despite everything, he only needed a short approach in overtime to triumph and obtain his ticket to the Masters Tournament.
McCarthy, who was looking for a first victory at his 174e tournament on the PGA Tour, was the first to start in overtime. His iron shot tore up a little too much of the grass and the ball ended up in the stream in front of the 18th green.e hole.
Aged 22, Bhatia won the Barracuda Championship last summer. This victory did not allow him to play at Augusta National for the first time, but this last one will.
McCarthy had already earned his right to play in the Masters Tournament because he finished in the top 50 in the world last year, but he would still have liked to lift a first PGA trophy. Last year, at the Memorial tournament, he lost in overtime to Viktor Hovland.
Rory McIlroy brought back a card of 66 and he seized the third level alone, nine shots behind the leaders. All he needs is a title at the Masters Tournament to complete the Grand Slam.
Canadians Corey Conners (25e), Adam Svensson (51e) and Ben Silverman (81e) participated in the weekend rounds.