Akshay Bhatia of Wake Forest a winner on Korn Ferry Tour at 20, and gunning for more
It wasn’t the round Akshay Bhatia was hoping for Saturday, but he toughed it out until his final putt dropped.
After a tough patch of bogeys on the back nine, Bhatia steadied for an even-par 71 in the third round of the Rex Hospital Open at the Country Club at Wakefield Plantation. That left him well off the lead in the Korn Ferry Tour event, but hardly darkened his mood.
This is a homecoming week for Bhatia, whose family lives in Wake Forest. The Rex is special to him, a tournament he has had circled since winning the Korn Ferry’s Bahamas Great Exuma Classic in January, just before his 20th birthday.
“It’s a little overwhelming,” Bhatia said in an interview Saturday. “I want to play well and when I’m not playing well I feel like I’m not doing my job.”
And professional golf is his job. Unlike most teenagers with promise, the lean left-hander decided not to play college golf, but turn pro at 17 and, as he likes to put it, “Chase my dream” — the PGA Tour.
A member of the winning U.S. Walker Cup team in 2019, Bhatia was able to get in various PGA Tour events on sponsor exemptions, but struggled mightily. But the pandemic, he said, gave him time to reflect, regroup and re-energize, and he said he was mentally and physically set for 2022.
Then he dislocated a shoulder playing pickleball just a few weeks before the Bahamas event.
Pickleball?
“Five dollars was on the line and I wanted that five bucks,” he said, smiling.
Despite some intense rehab, Bhatia wasn’t sure if he’d be able to compete in the Korn Ferry’s first event of the season — in the Bahamas, with $135,000 to be paid to the winner. But he did play, putting together rounds of 69, 72, 68 and then a final-round 65 at Sandals Emerald Bay Golf Club for a two-shot victory and a playing exemption on the tour for the year.
Talk about being overwhelmed.
“Hectic,” he said. “There were so many calls, texts and Instagram posts after it. Winning was like a bonus in that I could fill my schedule to create opportunities to chase my dream.
“After that, you keep plugging, keep learning. The lifestyle was so different and all the travel affected my body.”
A back issue, he said, kept him away for four to five weeks. He missed some cuts and twice withdrew from events.
“Everything happens for a reason, going through some highs, going through some lows,” Bhatia said. “It’s a bigger challenge as a professional, because you’re trying to make a living out of it and chase your dreams and some weeks you feel far away and some weeks you feel like you’re right there.
“But I feel like I’ve handled it pretty well. I’ve had some momentum these last few weeks. You’ve got to keep plugging. It only takes on round to get a good finish.”
The 65 in the Bahamas was that kind of round. It made him the third youngest golfer to win a Korn Ferry tournament, behind Sungjae Im and Jason Day.
Bhatia won with his girlfriend, Presleigh Schultz, as his caddie. The two are still together, a working couple, and Schultz is at Wakefield this week toting the bag.
Despite the ups and downs, Bhatia came to the Rex with more than $164,000 in winnings and 18th on tour points list. The top 25 at year’s end will earn PGA Tour cards.
On Saturday, Bhatia had his parents and sister and a host of friends following him along with former N.C. State and NFL football great Torry Holt. He took time after the round for a few group shots and to sign some golf balls and caps.
Bhatia was second-guessed when he skipped college. Some expected an early burnout. But look at him now.
“People can say what they want to say, but I’ve enjoyed everything that’s come with it,” he said.
