Bhatia, 17, Monday qualifies into Web.com's RTJ Championship

April 16, 2019 | by Julie Williams of AmateurGolf.com

Akshay Bhatia (Photo courtesy Chris King/DJ Junior)

Akshay Bhatia has tried his hand at Monday qualifying several times, and this week was successful

When Akshay Bhatia tees it up at the Web.com Tour’s RTJ Golf Trail Championship this week, it will be his second professional start in the span of a month. For the 17-year-old amateur, this one came the hard way.

Bhatia, of Wake Forest, N.C., has played a handful of PGA Tour and Web.com Tour qualifiers over the past year. On Monday, he got through for the first time. It took a 4-under 68 to earn the last of six available spots. Bhatia was the only amateur to qualify, and was one of only two in the field.

“It’s such a bear,” Bhatia told AmateurGolf.com last month on the subject of Monday qualifiers. “You have 18 holes to hit 63 shots. You have to play so well, you can’t make any mistakes and everything has to go your way.”

Bhatia got away with a few more than 63 on Monday, but the point remains: This route is not for the faint of heart.

Bhatia made his PGA Tour debut last month at the Valspar Championship. He played on a sponsor exemption, and while he didn’t make the cut, his game held up and it offered a major learning curve. The Walker Cup hopeful is firmly on the record as wanting to forego college and turn professional upon turning 18.

Related: Bhatia checking all the boxes on the fast track to pro life

As Bhatia dabbles in the next level, it has helped him at his current level. He won the Jones Cup to start the year, arguably the biggest amateur victory of his career. Next week, after making his Web.com Tour start, he will attempt a title defense at the Sage Valley Junior Invitational, among the most prestigious junior events in the game.

“At the end of the day you just have to realize that even if you miss it, you can still make par and that’s taught me a lot because I can put myself in bad spots but I can still make par,” he said. “That’s kind of what Mondays are about.”

Now Bhatia gets to see what the rest of the week is about. Bhatia will tee off at 11:50 a.m. in the first round alongside JT Griffin and Andrew Buchannan.

What were you doing at age 17?

Akshay Bhatia is making his PGA TOUR debut.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/wAktoVJf2k
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 20, 2019

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