Akshay Bhatia
Bhatia in 2018
Personal information
Born (2002-01-31) January 31, 2002 (age 22)
Northridge, California
Height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight130 lb (59 kg; 9.3 st)
Sporting nationality United States
ResidenceWake Forest, North Carolina
Career
Turned professional2019
Current tour(s)PGA Tour
Former tour(s)Korn Ferry Tour
PGA Tour Canada
Professional wins5
Highest ranking90 (January 28, 2024)[1]
(as of February 11, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour1
Korn Ferry Tour1
Other3
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentDNP
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenT57: 2021
The Open ChampionshipDNP
Medal record
Youth Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Boys' individual
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Mixed team

Akshay Bhatia (born January 31, 2002)[2] is an American professional golfer.

Amateur career

Bhatia was born in Northridge, California, and lives in Wake Forest, North Carolina.[3] He was runner-up at the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur. He won two silver medals at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in the boy's individual and the mixed team with Lucy Li. He played on the Junior Presidents Cup team in 2017 and Junior Ryder Cup in 2018, with both teams winning.[3]

Bhatia made his PGA Tour debut at the 2019 Valspar Championship[4] on a sponsorship exemption; he did, however, miss the cut.

Bhatia made his Web.com Tour debut on April 18, 2019, at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship,[5] where he made the cut and finished T-42.

Professional career

Bhatia turned professional in September 2019 after competing in the 2019 Walker Cup, and made his professional debut at the Sanderson Farms Championship.[6]

On August 5, 2020, Bhatia won the ST 11 @ Old South Golf, an event on the Swing Thought Tour, by three strokes.[7] On February 25, 2021, Bhatia won his second Swing Thought Tour event, ST 12 @ Brunswick, in a playoff.[8][9] On May 29, Bhatia won the 2021 Biggs Classic, a GProTour event.[10][11]

In June 2021, Bhatia qualified for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He made the cut and finished tied for 57th in his first major championship appearance.[12]

In January 2022, Bhatia won The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. This was his first start as a member of the Korn Ferry Tour.[13] Despite the strong start, Bhatia fell short of earning a PGA Tour card, finishing 30th during the regular season and not making a cut during the Finals.

Bhatia earned Special Temporary Member status on the PGA Tour after a runner-up finish at the 2023 Puerto Rico Open.[14]

In July 2023, he earned his first PGA Tour and first European Tour victory by winning in a playoff at the Barracuda Championship.[15]

Amateur wins

Source:[16]

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Jul 23, 2023 Barracuda Championship1 40 pts (6-8-17-9=40) Playoff United States Patrick Rodgers

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent Result
1 2023 Barracuda Championship United States Patrick Rodgers Won with par on first extra hole

Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)

No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 Jan 19, 2022 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic −14 (69-72-68-65=274) 2 strokes United States Paul Haley II

Swing Thought Tour wins (2)

GProTour wins (1)

Results in major championships

Tournament 2021
Masters Tournament
PGA Championship
U.S. Open T57
The Open Championship
  Did not play

"T" = tied

U.S. national team appearances

Source:[16]

References

  1. ^ "Week 4 2024 Ending 28 Jan 2024" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved January 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "Five things you should know about Akshay Bhatia". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Akshay Bhatia profile". Team USA. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  4. ^ "Amateur Bhatia excited to battle pros at Valspar Championship". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  5. ^ Melton, Zephyr (April 17, 2019). "No. 1-ranked junior golfer Akshay Bhatia to make Web.com Tour debut in Alabama". PGA Tour.
  6. ^ Beall, Joel (September 17, 2019). "As Akshay Bhatia makes his PGA Tour debut, how 10 other high school prodigies fared when turning pro". Golf Digest.
  7. ^ "ST 11 @ Old South Golf". Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  8. ^ Davis, Derrick (February 25, 2021). "Young Blood : 19-year-old Bhatia continues ascent in SwingThought Tour at Brunswick Country Club". The Brunswick News. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  9. ^ "ST Competition Results 2021 : ST12 @ Brunswick". Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  10. ^ Winkler, Adam (May 30, 2021). "Akshay Bhatia wins 2021 Biggs Classic in Hertford, NC". WTKR. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  11. ^ "2021 Biggs Classic". GProTour. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  12. ^ Rapaport, Daniel (June 8, 2021). "The 9 most intriguing stories from U.S. Open Final Qualifying". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  13. ^ Powers, Christopher (January 19, 2022). "19-year-old Akshay Bhatia claims his first Korn Ferry Tour win at season opener in the Bahamas". Golf Digest. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  14. ^ Prise, Kevin (March 5, 2023). "Akshay Bhatia earns Special Temporary Membership with runner-up at Puerto Rico Open". PGA Tour.
  15. ^ "Akshay Bhatia, 21, wins his first PGA Tour title at the Barracuda Championship". Associated Press News. July 23, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Akshay Bhatia". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved March 25, 2019.

External links

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