PGA TOUR: Akshay Bhatia off to a solid start in pro career

Akshay Bhatia had a quick exit in his first PGA TOUR start as a professional, but he’ll have plenty to look forward to in a promising young career.

The PGA TOUR is a young person’s game, now more than ever. It seems like every other week we’re focusing on one of the new “young guns” that seem to be consistently raking in the big bucks and making even players in their early-to-mid thirties feel like they need to hang on. Akshay Bhatia, of course, fits that mold perhaps better than anybody, and that’s what makes his story at last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship so intriguing.

If you don’t know who Akshay Bhatia is yet – and you probably will soon – here’s a quick background. Still just 17 years old, Bhatia was born in Northridge, Calif., before he and his family moved to Wake Forest, N.C., where they currently live. Over the past two years, he’s been winning tons of elite juniors competitions, including being part of the winning American teams in the 2017 junior Presidents Cup, 2018 junior Ryder Cup, and the 2019 Walker Cup.

In 2018, Bhatia became the first ever player to win back to back boys’ Junior PGA Championships, and he followed that up with a 10-shot victory at the AJGA Polo Golf Junior Classic. So, yeah, this is one good kid. And the remarkable 2018 season helped reinforce his decision to skip college entirely to turn pro.

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That career began, officially, at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week, where Bhatia was granted a sponsor’s exemption. And while things didn’t necessarily go entirely in his favor, it was a strong debut for a young player who has a lot to look forward to in his golfing future.

Let’s talk for a second about the stuff that he’s got going for him off the course, first. Just ahead of his debut, Bhatia signed an equipment deal with Callaway Golf, meaning he’s got the backing of one of the biggest manufacturers in the game to support him. That’s a big compliment for a player still technically in high school.

With all that is going on around him at this turning point in his life, he went out and shot two-under 70 in his first round on Thursday. No, it wasn’t the Masters or anything, but it’s still a full-fledged PGA TOUR event, where a strong showing could have gone a long way toward his goal of gaining either Special Temporary or even full TOUR membership.

His second-round 74 led to Bhatia missing the cut by a single stroke, but even in that he was able to find some significant learning opportunities.

"“I was definitely comfortable,” Bhatia said. “I’ve been in an atmosphere like this. The Walker Cup, I had 6,000 people watching me and the golf course was obviously hard. I know I can compete out here. I shot under par in my first go-round as a pro. I just have to do what I needed to do and say it with a smile.”"

Of course, we need to be realistic here. Very rarely does a young talent, no matter how mercurial, elevate his game to the top levels without taking more than a few knocks along the way. Trust, there are far more Ty Tryons than Jordan Spieths out there. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just the way things work. Still, as far as blossoming careers go, it’s hard to find much to pick apart with Akshay Bhatia.

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Here’s hoping that he can continue on this path through Q School for the Korn Ferry Tour, or wherever it may take him. I’m always one to pull for anybody chasing a dream, and if this is the path that Bhatia believes he can take, let’s sit back and see what he’s got.

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