Akshay Bhatia's ace on 17th hole at BMW wins a car, boosts hopes of reaching the Tour Championship

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OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Akshay Bhatia made an ace on the 17th hole of the BMW Championship on Saturday, winning a car and boosting his chances of qualifying for the Tour Championship next week.

The top 30 in the FedEx Cup advance to the Tour Championship, and Bhatia is right on the bubble, having entered this event in 29th. His hole-in-one came on an intimidating 227-yard, par 3 with an elevated tee and water to the right of the green. The pin was toward the front of the green with a bunker to the left.

Bhatia shot a 5-over 75 in the first round Thursday, leaving him 13 strokes behind the leader. But he shot a third-round 66 on Saturday, holing out a sand wedge from 93 yards for an eagle on the par-4 seventh. When his 5-iron on No. 17 rolled into the hole, it moved him to even par for the tournament.

The ace earned Bhatia the BMW iX M70 on display next to the 17th tee. It also means $125,000 will go from BMW to the Evans Scholars Foundation, which oversees a scholarship program for caddies.

“I don’t really necessarily need a new car. I’m pretty happy with what I’ve got,” the 23-year-old Bhatia said. “I think either I’ll give it to my caddie or figure something out to where I can donate it to charity or something.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf