2024 Masters field: Will Akshay Bhatia make it in by winning Texas Open?
Akshay Bhatia followed up his opening-round 63 with a 2-under 70 on Friday for a five-shot lead at the Valero Texas Open heading into the weekend. Bhatia was 11 under after 36 holes.
If he can hold on for a victory in San Antonio, Bhatia would qualify for his first Masters. The Texas Open champion will receive the final berth into next week's Masters, if not already qualified.
The 22-year-old from Los Angeles turned pro in 2019 and is No. 87 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Bhatia might have been given a slight break with his tee time, giving him a window in which the winds at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course stayed manageable. “It was stressful, for sure, wasn’t my best stuff,” he said. “I felt like I struggled a lot off the tee today, golf swing didn’t feel great with any of the longer stuff, but iron play was still phenomenal, wedges were good, made some nice putts."
Denny McCarthy, Brendon Todd and Russell Henley were all five shots back, tied at 6 under.
Meanwhile, at the LIV event in Miami, Sergio Garcia shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 for a share of the lead at Trump National Doral.
Garcia is one of 13 LIV players headed to Augusta National next week for the Masters. "Obviously if you play nicely, it gives you a little bit of confidence for sure, but every week is different, and you never know how Augusta is going to play, the conditions you're going to get," Garcia said.
"Augusta is very, very tricky, and it can be a little bit tough to swallow sometimes. Just got to keep your feet on the ground, and even if you win this week, you've got to go out there with your feet on the ground and just try to do the best possible."
Masters field 2024
In alphabetical order by last name
Ludvig Åberg - Sweden
Byeong Hun An, Korea
Keegan Bradley - United States
Sam Burns - United States
Patrick Cantlay - United States
Wyndham Clark - United States
Eric Cole - United States
Corey Conners - Canada
Fred Couples - United States
Cameron Davis - Australia
Jason Day - Australia
Bryson DeChambeau - United States
Santiago de la Fuente - Mexico
Nick Dunlap - United States
Austin Eckroat - United States
Harris English - United States
Tony Finau - United States
Matt Fitzpatrick - England
Tommy Fleetwood - England
Rickie Fowler - United States
Ryan Fox - New Zealand
Sergio García - Spain
Lucas Glover - United States
Emiliano Grillo - Argentina
Adam Hadwin - Canada
Stewart Hagestad - United States
Brian Harman - United States
Tyrrell Hatton - England
Russell Henley - United States
Ryo Hisatsune - Japan
Lee Hodges - United States
Nicolai Højgaard - Denmark
Max Homa - United States
Viktor Hovland - Norway
Sungjae Im - Korea
Stephan Jaeger, Germany
Dustin Johnson - United States
Zach Johnson - United States
Si Woo Kim - Korea
Tom Kim - Korea
Chris Kirk - United States
Kurt Kitayama - United States
Jake Knapp - United States
Brooks Koepka - United States
Christo Lamprecht - South Africa
Min Woo Lee - Australia
Luke List - United States
Shane Lowry - Ireland
Peter Malnati - United States
Hideki Matsuyama - Japan
Denny McCarthy - United States
Rory McIlroy - Northern Ireland
Adrian Meronk - Poland
Phil Mickelson - United States
Taylor Moore - United States
Collin Morikawa - United States
Grayson Murray - United States
Joaquín Niemann - Chile
José María Olazábal - Spain
Thorbjørn Olesen - Denmark
Matthieu Pavon - France
J.T. Poston - United States
Jon Rahm - Spain
Patrick Reed - United States
Justin Rose - England
Xander Schauffele - United States
Scottie Scheffler - United States
Adam Schenk - United States
Charl Schwartzel - South Africa
Adam Scott - Australia
Neal Shipley - United States
Vijay Singh - Fiji
Cameron Smith - Australia
Jordan Spieth - United States
Sepp Straka - Austria
Jasper Stubbs - Australia
Nick Taylor - Canada
Sahith Theegala - United States
Justin Thomas - United States
Erik van Rooyen - South Africa
Camilo Villegas - Colombia
Bubba Watson - United States
Mike Weir - Canada
Danny Willett - England
Gary Woodland - United States
Tiger Woods - United States
Cameron Young - United States
Will Zalatoris - United States
Will Tiger Woods play in the 2024 Masters?
Tiger Woods is in the field of players for the 2024 Masters, and Saturday he was at Augusta National Golf Club playing with chairman Fred Ridley and Justin Thomas, according to Sports Illustrated's Bob Harig. Earlier Friday, Woods was listed on the interview schedule for the Masters, perhaps another sign he will play next week.
When does the Masters start?
The 2024 Masters will start on April 11 at Augusta National Golf Club. Tee times are expected to be around 8:30 a.m. ET. The tournament will play through the weekend with the final round on April 14.
Contributing: Victoria Hernandez, Tim Schmitt, Golfweek; Field Level Media
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Masters field 2024: Who's in as Valero Texas Open heads to weekend