Akshay Bhatia makes birdie on the par-4 18th hole during round two of the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club. (Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press)
Bhatia has been atop the leaderboard at the end of both days now. He has capitalizing on some approach shots with great putting, and played bogey free golf despite his early morning tee time. Even when he didn’t hit great shots toward the end of his round, he avoided trouble.
“I felt like a drove the ball a little better for the most part,” Bhatia said in his post-round interview. “Then I made some not great golf swings towards the end but, I only birdied one of the par-5s but I made it for with a couple good birdies, but all in all, it’s nice to be in the position I wanna be in.”
Bhatia, who won in April in a playoff at the Valero Texas Open for his second career win on Tour, seemed confident in his approach to the round. He smiled more often Friday, keeping fans engaged. His keys to victory entering the third round are very simple.
“You just got to keep your foot on the pedal,” Bhatia said, “I have made plenty of birdies this week, but I gotta keep going.”
Rai is also at 13 under after his second-round 65. He’s looking for more at Detroit Golf Club after a top-10 finish there in 2023.
“It’s always nice to come back to a course with good memories. I enjoy the layout, it fits my eye pretty well, and the conditions that we have this week are pretty soft, which certainly gives us opportunities to hit a lot of fairways and be a little more aggressive with the second shots,” he said.
