Akshay Bhatia Rallies to Win Arnold Palmer Golf Tournament
Akshay Bhatia dedicates Arnold Palmer Golf Title win to his niece Mia who passed away from a rare disease in 2025
March 8, 2026
Since the start of the 2026 US Professional Golf Association Tour, Akshay Bhatia finished twice in the top ten in his first five tournaments. On February 12, he had a two-stroke lead starting the final round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Tournament in California. But, in the final round, he was unable to hold the lead as he shot an even par and finished tied in sixth place.
Today, at the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Tournament, in Bay Hill, Florida, he started in second place, two strokes behind the leader Daniel Berger. After the first nine holes, it looked like Bhatia had little chance of winning since Berger’s lead grew to four strokes.
Then, Bhatia birdied four of the final nine holes and eagled the 16th hole, so he finished tied with Berger at 15 under par at the end of round. Bhatia then beat Berger in the playoffs. “Play bold — I think that was a big thing everyone knows of Mr. Palmer,” Bhatia said at the post-game press conference. “I could feel that energy and buzz. It was awesome. I’m very fortunate to win this tournament.” Palmer (1929-2016) won 62 PGA titles, including seven majors.
The Arnold Palmer win is Bhatia’s third on the PGA Tour, with all three wins coming from playoffs. Sahith Theegala, the other Indian American on the PGA Tour, finished tied for sixth.
With today’s win, Bhatia, 24-years-old, has three wins, two second place finishes and nine top five finishes in 102 starts on the United States Professional Golf Association (PGA) Tour, since he qualified in 2023. He is ranked 39th in the world. His prize winnings total $18.3 million, including $4 million for today’s win. He has additional income from brand sponsors including Mastercard and Calloway golf.
“Just because it hasn’t been done, doesn’t make it impossible,” is the title of Bhatia’s Instagram feed, which has nearly 380,000 followers.
Indeed, Bhatia is unlike the typical professional golfer in several ways. Though 6 feet tall, he is skinny weighing only 130 pounds (59 Kg). Sahith Theegala, 28-years-old, is 6’3” and 200 lbs. He has one PGA Tour win so far.
Yet, Bhatia’s long limbs and “rubber-band elasticity allows him to generate a swing speed of around 125 miles per hour,” similar to that of the other top golfers, notes Golf Digest. Bhatia’s drives average 301 yards in length.
“I’ve never seen someone hit the ball as well as he does, and I’ve seen a lot,” swing coach George Gankas, who has worked with Bhatia since he was 13, told Golf Digest. “He’s got a gift. His work ethic is also off the charts, and he loves the game.”
In 2024, Bhatia won his second PGA title at the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio, Texas. The key to his win was Ryan Davis, his mental coach. In a post-game press conference, Bhatia said he did not sleep well after the first three rounds. Before starting his final fourth round, Bhatia chatted with Davis. Following the conversation, with a black marker Bhatia wrote “WTW” – “Wire to Wire” or leading from the start to finish - on his left wrist.
In 2021, during his first season as a professional on the Korn Ferry Tour, Bhatia failed to qualify past the first two rounds in his first six tournaments. The next year, he was also cut after two rounds at seven of his eleven tournament starts, again failing to qualify to move up to the PGA Tour. In 2023, he finished second at the Puerto Rican Open which gave him a different path to enter the PGA Tour.
In his junior years Bhatia was labelled by the media as a “phenom” and a “sensation.” In 2019, he was the first high school student to play on the U.S. Walker Cup team, the golf contest held every odd year between amateurs from the U.S. against those from Great Britain and Ireland.
In 2017, and again in 2018, Bhatia won the Boys Junior PGA Championship. In 2017, he had an undefeated 3-0-0 record that helped lead the U.S. team to a 14-10 victory over the International Team in the Junior President’s Cup.
Bhatia’s father Sonny – who plays golf on weekends - and mother Renu are immigrants from India. While Bhatia was a teenager, his mother took on a second job mainly to help pay for his golf expenses. “One day, I’ll repay my mom,” Bhatia told Golf Digest.
Bhatia was born and grew up in Northridge, a suburb of Los Angeles. He took to golf watching his older sister Rhea. She was on the women’s golf team at Queens University, Charlotte, North Carolina.
In 2011, the family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina where Bhatia got to play on better golf courses. He also enjoys bowling. He resides in Jupiter, Florida, with his wife Presleigh, who was his caddie early in his PGA career.
Bhatia was schooled at home finishing from Penn Foster High School, an online for-profit school. Several U.S. colleges, with top rated golf programs, were eager to recruit Bhatia. But, in 2019, at age 17, Bhatia turned professional, bypassing competing as a college student, the route to sharpen both golf and mental skills favored by most golfers, from Tiger Woods, who attended Stanford University, to Theegala, a graduate of Pepperdine.
“I had my niece definitely watching over me,” Bhatia told the Golf Channel. after his win today. His niece, Mia, died at five years old, on the morning of December 13, 2025, the day Bhatia was to wed his now wife, Presleigh. Mia was with her family at the Abaco Club in the Bahamas to attend Bhatia’s wedding. She was born with pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency, a rare, genetic disease, with doctors not expecting her to make it to her first birthday.
There was a rainbow in the sky when Bhatia was receiving the Palmer trophy at the 18th hole. “When I saw that rainbow on 18, it reminded me” of Mia, he said at the post-game press conference. “She was a fighter for a long time.” Bhatia dedicated the Palmer Tournament win to Mia.