Akshay Bhatia’s trip halfway across the world didn’t go as he planned. 

The recent Arnold Palmer Invitational champion, in preparation for the Masters, decided to play the DP World Tour’s Hero Indian Open in Delhi, where his parents are from (he is also a brand ambassador for Hero). 

“To come here, inspire people and to play in front of people that look up to me is really cool. I’m very blessed to be in this position,” Bhatia said ahead of the tournament.

And though he was the betting favorite, the tournament got away from him in a flash. 

On Bhatia’s opening hole in Round 1, DLF Country Club’s par-4 10th, he hit a wayward tee shot out of bounds en route to a double bogey. Then, the 24-year-old carded consecutive bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14. 

That wasn’t the worst of his round, though. On the par-5 15th, he hit the wrong ball on his second shot, finding his ball shortly after. He would notify a rules official, be docked two strokes, and ultimately card a triple bogey. 

❌ Out of bounds on the first hole
😡 Hit the wrong ball
😣 Triple-bogey on the 15th
📊 Eight over on the front-nine
😃 Three under on the back-nine

Three birdies on the back-nine puts Akshay Bhatia in good spirits despite having a challenging start to his DLF Golf & Country… pic.twitter.com/mwCotfqRDt

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 26, 2026

He played the front at 8 over and, although he finished his round with three birdies, shot 5-over 77. 

“Glad I didn’t shoot 80,” Bhatia jokingly told the DP World Tour afterward. “Yeah, tough day—hit the wrong ball, which was very unfortunate, and just did not play good on the first nine.

“Shooting three under on my back side was great and look, this golf course is hard so if I can just try and get it back to even par, I think it’ll be a nice comeback for me. I’ll never give up and that’s kind of the goal.”

Needing to make a charge to secure a weekend tee time, the world No. 22 shot even par and Friday to miss the cut. 

If there’s a silver lining, his Masters preparation will start a few days early. And he hopes his time in Augusta isn’t a repeat of how things went in India.