Daily Times

Akshay Bhatia nearly celebrated too soon Sunday, hurting his left shoulder while pumping his arms on a 12-foot birdie to force a playoff. He recovered to make birdie on the first extra hole and win the Texas Open over hard-luck Denny McCarthy to earn a trip to the Masters.

McCarthy was six shots behind going to the back nine at the TPC San Antonio when he birdied eight of the nine holes – including the last seven – making a 12-foot birdie for a 9-under 63. Bhatia had to make his birdie putt from the same range to have a chance.

He made it for a 67, raising his arms to shake them in his clutch moment. And that´s when he felt his shoulder – which he says has given him trouble before – pop out of its socket. Bhatia hit his tee shot and laid up with a 5-iron on the par-5 18th in the playoff.

McCarthy, winless on the PGA Tour, was first to play and chunked a wedge so badly that he immediately hung his head. The ball came up some 20 yards short into the middle of a creek. And then Bhatia called for treatment, jogging off the course briefly to get his shoulder taped. He returned and hit wedge to 6 feet. Needing three putts to win, he holed it to win for the second time on the PGA Tour.