Bhatia gets hole-in-one, wins a car and bolsters chance to play Tour Championship

Maryland (USA), Aug 17 (PTI) Akshay Bhatia shot a four-under 66 which included a birdie and a hole-in-one as he moved to tied-22 after the third round, giving himself a chance to stay in the top 30 of the FedEx Cup and qualifying for the Tour Championship next week.

Bhatia, who was on the edge at the 29th place at the start of the week, moved up from tied-37th to tied-22nd after the third round with a birdie on the 16th hole and hole-in-one in the 17th.

Bhatia’s first hole-in-one on the PGA TOUR came with a 227-yard 5-iron to four-under 66. The ace will fetch Bhatia a BMW iX and it will also provide a full four-year Evans Scholarship in his name to a deserving young caddie.

Bhatia also holed out with a wedge on the par-4 seventh for eagle, and turned in a card that had scores of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Robert MacIntyre holed a final-hole birdie putt from 41 feet, three inches to card a 2-under 68 and set his career low 54-hole score on Tour. He was four shots clear of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (67).

MacIntyre (62-64-68) is 16-under and Scheffler (66-65-67) is 12-under.

Bidding to become the first player from Scotland to win a FedExCup Playoffs event, MacIntyre has two PGA Tour wins at the 2024 RBC Canadian Open and the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open and has five top-10 finishes in 21 starts this season, led by a runner-up finish at the US Open.

The reigning FedExCup champion and current points leader Scheffler is seeking his fifth win this season and 18th on Tour. He won seven times in 2024. His third-round 67 marked his 16th consecutive round under par.

The 2024 BMW Championship runner-up Ludvig Aberg lies third at 10-under and is looking for his second victory this season after The Genesis Invitational.

Lying tied-fourth is Sam Burns at eight-under alongside Harry Hall, who seeks to advance to the Tour Championship for the first time in his third season.

The 23-year-old Hero golfer Bhatia, who played the Tour Championship last year as well, had an opening 5-over 75 shot one-under in the third round and was two-under for his third round before the ace moved him to four-under for the day and even-par for the tournament.

Bhatia’s tee shot landed just a few paces short of the front-right pin location and trundling into the cup.

Bhatia was 2-over for the tournament as he reached the 17th hole on Saturday and had dropped to 31st in the projected FedExCup standings.

"When that golf ball went in, it was the craziest thing in the world," Bhatia said. "My caddie was pointing at the car and I'm like, don't even know what to do. I couldn't even feel my body.” "Every shot counts," Bhatia said. "I don't want to just shrug it in and not make it to the finish line. I want to try everything I can.” It was Bhatia's first ace on the PGA Tour, but the sixth of his life. His first came when he was 11 years old at Pinehurst No 2. PTI COR DDV