Akshay Bhatia (born January 31, 2002) is an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Amateur career

Bhatia was born in Northridge, California, and lives in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He was runner-up at the 2018

U.S. Junior Amateur The United States Junior Amateur Championship is one of the fourteen U.S. national golf championships organized by the United States Golf Association. It is open to amateur boys who are under 19 on the last day of the competition and have a USGA Ha ...

. He won two silver medals at the

2018 Summer Youth Olympics The 2018 Summer Youth Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud de 2018), officially known as the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, and commonly known as Buenos Aires 2018, were an international sports, cultural, and educational event held ...

in the boy's individual and the mixed team with

Lucy Li Lucy Li (born October 1, 2002) is an American professional golfer. She currently holds records as the youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women's Amateur and the U.S. Women's Open. She is the second-youngest qualifier for the U.S. Women's Amateur P ...

. He played on the

Junior Presidents Cup The Junior Presidents Cup is a junior team golf competition between the United States and an International team representing the rest of the world excluding Europe. It is based around the Presidents Cup and is run by the PGA Tour and American Jun ...

team in 2017 and

Junior Ryder Cup The Junior Ryder Cup is a team golf competition between Europe and the United States for junior golfers aged 18 and under. It is based on the men's Ryder Cup and is run by the same organisations, the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe. The 2018 ...

in 2018, with both teams winning. Bhatia made his PGA Tour debut at the 2019

Valspar Championship The Valspar Championship is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played annually on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, northwest of Tampa, Florida. History The tournament was founded in 2000 as the ...

on a sponsorship exemption; he did, however, miss the cut. Bhatia made his

Web.com Tour The Korn Ferry Tour is the developmental tour for the U.S.-based PGA Tour, and features professional golfers who have either not yet reached the PGA Tour, or who have done so but then failed to win enough FedEx Cup points to stay at that level. Th ...

debut on April 18, 2019, at the

Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship was a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour. It was played in April 2019 at The Senator Course of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Prattville, Alabama. Lanto Griffin won the tournament, defeating ...

, where he made the cut and finished T-42.

Professional career

Bhatia turned professional in September 2019 after competing in the

2019 Walker Cup The 47th Walker Cup Match was played 7 and 8 September 2019 at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake, Merseyside, England. Royal Liverpool hosted the 1983 Walker Cup. The United States won by 15½ points to 10½. They trailed 7½ to 8½ coming in t ...

, and made his professional debut at the Sanderson Farms Championship. On August 5, 2020, Bhatia won the ST 11 @ Old South Golf, an event on the

Swing Thought Tour SwingThought, formerly the NGA Pro Golf Tour, is the oldest developmental golf tour based in the United States. The tour was acquired by Golf Interact in 2014 and rebranded as SwingThought. The tour consists of around 25 professional golf tourna ...

, by three strokes. On February 25, 2021, Bhatia won his second Swing Thought Tour event, ST 12 @ Brunswick, in a playoff. On May 29, Bhatia won the 2021 Biggs Classic, a GProTour event. 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. In January 2022, Bhatia won

The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic is a golf tournament on the Korn Ferry Tour, played at Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Course in the Bahamas. It is one of two Korn Ferry Tour events in the Bahamas, along with The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic The Bahamas ...

on the Korn Ferry Tour. This was his first start as a member of the Korn Ferry Tour. 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. In July 2023, he earned his first PGA Tour and first European Tour victory by winning in a playoff at the Barracuda Championship.

Amateur wins

*2016 AJGA - CJGT Junior at Yorba Linda, IZOD AJGA Championship *2017 Davis Love III Junior Open, Junior PGA Championship, AJGA Junior at Ford's Colony *2018 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, Polo Golf Junior Classic, Boy's Junior PGA Championship, Rolex Tournament of Champions *2019

Jones Cup Invitational The Jones Cup Invitational is an annual amateur golf tournament. It has been played since 2001 at Ocean Forest Golf Club in Sea Island, Georgia. It was originally biannual but it became an annual event in 2009. It is an individual 54-hole stroke- ...

, Dustin Johnson World Junior Championship Source:

Professional wins (5)

PGA Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the European Tour PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)

Swing Thought Tour wins (2)

*2020 ST 11 @ Old South Golf *2021 ST 12 @ Brunswick

GProTour wins (1)

*2021 Biggs Classic

Results in major championships

"T" = tied

U.S. national team appearances

: 2017 (winners) *

: 2018 (winners) * Walker Cup:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

(winners) Source:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatia, Akshay American male golfers Golfers at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics Golfers from California Golfers from North Carolina Left-handed golfers People from Northridge, Los Angeles People from Wake Forest, North Carolina American sportspeople of Indian descent 2002 births Living people