Akshay Bhatia responds to cheating allegations

The next step for Bhatia will be to consistently challenge in the major championships.

He’s a hugely popular figure and a lot of people would love to see him win one of the big events.

However, in spite of his popularity, Bhatia has received plenty of criticism as well.

Akshay Bhatia responds to cheating allegations

Bhatia is one of the players in the professional game who uses a long putter.

However, many golf fans have accused the 24-year-old of anchoring the butt of his grip to his chest when he is putting.

When speaking on the Foreplay Podcast Plus Podcast, Bhatia responded to a question regarding the cheating allegations which are constantly made against him.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t care,“ Bhatia exclaimed.

“I know people do it for views.

I spoke to Rapaport last week. I was like, ‘I’d honestly just take my shirt off and show everyone, this is where I’m at’.

“Because it’s three to four inches from my chest. Like, I’m not built like Adam Scott. I’m not built like Lucas Glover.

“And so, yeah, it looks like it touches my shirt.

“But I had a great conversation with the rules committee last week, and my integrity, like, there’s obviously a lot of integrity on this sport.

“Um, and so, yeah, people can say what they want to say. If I wasn’t playing well, no one would say anything.

“So, again, it’s just people wanting to create noise, and if they want me to go shorter, then I’ll just bend down more.

“So it doesn’t matter to me, you know?

Akshay Bhatia defends those who use long putters

“It’s like if people started saying, like, the claw grip is cheating, you know what I’m saying?

“It’s like just a different version, and I think Jordan (Spieth) talked about it last week. Like, it’s still a skill that you have to learn with the broom.

“And you still have to be a great green reader. Your speed and green reading has to be good.

“Like, I could anchor it and pull every putt and miss everything, but it’s like, I’m still a great green reader, and I’m, you know, I have to have some idea of speed.

“It’s funny to me, man. Like, people on the Internet, I just don’t get it.

“It doesn’t make me upset, but it’s definitely, like, don’t you have other people to pick on? Like, this is just dumb.“

Bhatia is spot on here. If it was that easy to use a broomstick, everybody would surely do it?

Also, in the heat of battle, does anyone really think Bhatia would risk cheating in front of the millions of people watching worldwide?

It’s utter nonsense. While Bhatia’s shirt may touch the butt of his putter grip at times, his chest is nowhere near it.

The 24-year-old PGA Tour star obviously does not anchor his putter to his body.

The problem lies with the PGA Tour, who made the rule so open to interpretation in the first place.

If they really want to banish long putters, they should bring in a maximum length rule.