Akshay Bhatia breaks down Sauce Gardner’s golf swing at the Rocket Mortgage Classic

Akshay Bhatia didn’t know who Sauce Gardner was, but that didn’t stop him from providing some free instruction for the New York Jets cornerback.

Bhatia, who shot a bogey-free 8-under 64 to grab the first-round lead at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, was asked if he knew who the shut-down corner out of Cincinnati was during his post-round press conference.

“Sorry, who?” Bhatia said.

 “Sauce Gardner,” the interviewer repeated.

“I don’t,” he said.

LMK when you want to come on the channel for a lesson, we'll get you dialed in @iamSauceGardner

— Bryson DeChambeau (@b_dechambeau) June 27, 2024

Gardner, 23, recently took up golf and has been posting videos on social media. Bryson DeChambeau replied to one of them and offered to give him a lesson on his YouTube channel. But Gardner, who also got some help from the PGA of America, got some free analysis from Bhatia when the interviewer asked him to look at one of Gardner’s videos – presumably on his phone.

“On his short game, he’s using a lot of lower body, which you don’t really want to do, so that was first off,” Bhatia said. “Other than that, it looks pretty good. He’ll just get used to kind of releasing the golf club. Looks like he kind of holds on a little bit. He’s got some work to do, but off to a good start.”

There you have it. Follow Bhatia’s advice, and his pitch shots should have a little Tour sauce.

I just went back and watched the video of my swing. You are 100% right coach! I'm back on the course today so I will put those tips to use https://t.co/4K4c9IKzRT

— SAUCE GARDNER (@iamSauceGardner) June 27, 2024