“I just kind of let him do his own thing. As the young kid, I didn’t want to bug him too much.” These words came straight from Akshay Bhatia, the rising star who was paired with Rory McIlroy during his first round at Augusta National.

As we know, McIlroy is rising on the leaderboard in the second round, but his performance took a hit after his 15th hole chip during the opening round.

He ended up with a double bogey at the Firethorn. But his bogey count for Round 1 didn’t end there, as he made another double bogey at the 17th hole.

Meanwhile, the young star impressed the golf world with his smooth swings during the last six holes, carding a total of 2-under par during the opening round.

When asked if he played under pressure, being paired with Rory, Bhatia replied that he had “enjoyed it.”

“It’s really cool,” he said. “As a kid, I’ve grown up watching him. To kind of be in that group, I was a little surprised. But it was awesome. I really enjoyed it.”

The 23-year-old continued, “I just kind of stay in my own lane, and I know – it makes it feel a little bit more important, which is kind of nice, if you focus a little more.”

Bhatia admitted, “A lot of Rory chants out there, so I wasn’t too worried about just playing with him.”

However, he acknowledged the crowd’s support for McIlroy, saying, “But there was definitely a lot of people rooting him on, which they should.”

This is Akshay Bhatia’s second Masters appearance, and scoring even lower than the World No. 1 was commendable. Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time he’s received recognition for his golfing this year.

The rising star was also praised for taking home $1 million from TPC Sawgrass, where McIlroy lifted the PLAYERS trophy on St. Patrick’s Day.

Do you think he’ll be able to score himself in the top 10 at this Masters? Let us know in the comments section below.

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