Akshay Bhatia

ELIGIBILITY: The first 50 players on the OWGR for Week 21, 2024.]

Bhatia was born in Northridge, California, and lives in Wake Forest, North Carolina. 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 the Junior Ryder Cup in 2018, with both teams winning.
Bhatia made his PGA Tour debut at the 2019 Valspar Championship on a sponsorship exemption; he did, however, miss the cut.
Bhatia made his Korn Ferry Tour debut on April 18, 2019, at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship, where he made the cut and finished T-42nd.
Bhatia skipped college to turn professional at age 17 in September 2019 after competing in the 2019 Walker Cup. He made his professional debut at the Sanderson Farms Championship, missing the cut.
On August 5, 2020, Bhatia won the ST 11 @ Old South Golf, an event on the Swing Thought Tour, by three strokes. On February 25, 2021, Bhatia won his second Swing Thought Tour event, ST 12 @ Brunswick, in a playoff. Also, in the 2021 Safeway Open, he won his first PGA Tour check and earned his first top-ten finish, finishing T-9th.
In June 2021, Bhatia qualified for the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He made the cut and finished T-57th in his first major championship appearance.
In January 2022, Bhatia won The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour, his first start as a member. 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.
2023 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with five top-ten finishes. Finished 102nd in the FedExCup playoffs. Was 2nd at the Puerto Rico Open. 4th at the Mexico Open. Won a playoff at the Barracuda Championship.
2024 Notes: Beat Denny McCarthy with a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the Valero Texas Open. The win got him a spot in the Masters where he finished T-35th. Bhatia played well, starting with his T-16th finish at the U.S. Open, then T-5th at the Travelers Championship, and T-2nd at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Bhatia three-putted on the 72nd hole for his second bogey of the tournament to finish a shot back of Cam Davis.