Akshay Bhatia

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Road to Pinehurst No. 2

F-21. Top 60 points leaders in the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 20

Bio

The 22-year-old North Carolinian who was a member of the victorious 2019 USA Walker Cup Team, broke through for his first PGA Tour win that allocated full FedEx Cup points at the Valero Texas Open the first Sunday in April. Bhatia withstood a late seven-birdie barrage from Denny McCarthy and a left shoulder issue to defeat McCarthy on the first playoff hole. Last July, Bhatia captured the Barracuda Championship, which was played opposite The Open Championship and thus did not earn him full FedEx points. Bhatia's win in Texas earned him an invitation to The Masters Tournament, where he first set foot 10 years earlier as part of the inaugural group of 80 participants in the Drive, Chip & Putt Championship. He became the first DCP alum to play the Masters. Prior to turning professional out of high school, the left-hander was the youngest player on the 2019 USA Walker Cup Team that won at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England. A year earlier, he lost in the championship match of the U.S. Junior Amateur to Michael Thorbjornsen at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J. Bhatia also won a pair of silver medals in the 2018 Youth Summer Olympics in the boys' individual and mixed team with Lucy Li. He played on the 2017 U.S. Junior Presidents Cup and 2018 Junior Ryder Cup teams. Bhatia decided to turn professional after the Walker Cup in September 2019 instead of going to college. This will be his second U.S Open start.