Akshay Bhatia is leading heading into the weekend at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
It’s a continuation of his good form built last week at the WM Phoenix Open, where he finished T3, but instead of celebrating back-to-back weeks of low scoring, he’s had to respond to accusations of rule-breaking online.
Bhatia has been accused by a large number of golf fans on social media of “anchoring”- the act of bracing a club (typically a long putter) against the body to increase its stability. This was banned in 2026, so while players like Bhatia can use long putters, it must now swing freely without touching the body.
A clip of Bhatia’s putting stroke surfaced online, and fans thought they saw the American anchoring his putter. He responded to fans’ claims on his social media.
Akshay Bhatia responds to anchoring accusations at Pebble Beach
After fans took to social media to accuse Bhatia of anchoring, he took to the Instagram comments to defend himself.
Replying to a post that asked if he was breaking the rule, Bhatia said, “Not anchoring. Literally 2 inches short of my chest haha”.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to verify because of an interesting wrinkle in the rule. While the putter isn’t allowed to rest against a player’s body, there is no rule that says it cannot touch Bhatia’s clothing.
That means that the putter could well be touching his shirt, which it appears to be, but not be putting any pressure on his actual chest. This is the predicament the USGA put itself in when it banned anchoring but not the long putter.
Until that rule is amended, expect further controversies like this.
Akshay Bhatia’s putting performance at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am
If there is an advantage to be had by anchoring, which there is little evidence for to begin with, Bhatia isn’t really feeling the benefit of that this week at Pebble Beach. Along with his driving, his play on the greens has been the weakest part of his game at the tournament.
He’s the 19th-ranked putter in the field, gaining 0.74 strokes through the first two rounds. That’s not what has separated him from the field as he leads the Pebble Beach Pro-Am at 15-under par.
Bhatia’s big strength has been his iron play, which has traditionally been the best part of his game. He’s gained +2.05 strokes on approach at a course where it’s incredibly difficult to hit these tiny greens.
The two-time PGA Tour winner is locked in with his irons, which have made up for his poor play off the tee. If he can get the ball in play more often, then he’d be a solid pick to claim the win on Sunday.