Five shots behind leader Daniel Berger heading to the back nine of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill Club in Orlando, Fla., Akshay Bhatia put on a charge that would have thrilled the tournament’s namesake.
Bhatia birdied four consecutive holes to get within a shot of Berger. After a bogey on the 15th hole, Bhatia lasered a 6-iron from 190 yards to within 3½ feet of the par-5 hole for an eagle to keep him within a shot of Berger, who birdied the hole.
They were tied when Berger bogeyed the 16th hole. Both men finished at 15-under-par 273, Berger making a par putt of nearly 14 feet on the 18th hole to set up a playoff. Bhatia closed with a 3-under 69 while playing partner Berger shot 70.
Back on the 18th tee, Berger hit his drive into the left rough and from there he gouged an approach to the green that finished 107 feet from the cup. He three-putted, missing a 7-foot, 7-inch par putt. Meanwhile, Bhatia two-putted for par from 27 feet, knocking in a 3-footer for his third career victory and the $4 million check that goes to the winner of a signature event.
“I’m very blessed to win (Mr. Palmer’s) event,” said Bhatia, 24. “I know he was up there watching and probably pretty proud of how that finish was for this week.”
Missed Putt Ignites Bhatia’s Charge
At the conclusion of the rain-delayed third round on Sunday morning, Bhatia was a shot behind Berger, who was seeking to become the tournament’s first wire-to-wire winner since Jason Day in 2016.
Bhatia bogeyed the first hole of the final round, birdied the fourth hole and bogeyed the par-5 sixth when he hit his second shot in the water, short and left of the green. On the ninth hole, he three-putted from 29 feet, missing a 2½-foot par putt to go out in 2-over 38 and drop five shots behind Berger, who went out in 2 under.
“I was pretty annoyed missing that putt on 9,” Bhatia said. “That was just a mental mistake that you just can’t make in big tournaments. So I went to 10 tee very angry. And I told (caddie) Joe Greiner that was the first time I really showed some frustration. But I told him, you know, I said we shot 4 under yesterday on this side, let’s just try and do that again. And you just never know in this game.”
Red-Hot Back Nine for Bhatia
Bhatia shot 5 under on his back nine. He made an 8-footer for birdie on the 10th and an improbable 58-footer for birdie on the 11th. He got up and down from 51 feet for birdie on the par-5 12th and sank a 12-footer for birdie on the 13th.
“That putt on 11 was a huge bonus for me. That really switched my momentum,” Bhatia said. “The shot on 16, Joe said, ‘Try to hit the best 6-iron of your life,’ and I did. It was a perfect 6-iron. I pushed it, you know, the professional push, as we call it, and it landed a couple feet from the hole, went up to 3 feet, and that was a huge bonus to go from a couple back to just one back.”
Berger hit his tee shot over the green on the 184-yard par 3 17th and just missed a 7-foot par putt. His up and down for par from 70 yards on the 18th hole after laying up from the right rough to stay tied with Bhatia could’ve shifted the momentum. But another poor tee shot on 18 in the playoff gave Bhatia the advantage and the victory in the first playoff at Bay Hill since Tim Herron defeated Tom Lehman in 1999.
Bhatia’s other wins were all in one-hole playoffs: He beat Patrick Rodgers to win the 2023 Barracuda Championship and Denny McCarthy to win the 2024 Valero Texas Open. Berger is 1 and 3 in playoffs.
“I’m proud of myself,” Berger said. “Obviously it didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but at the start of the week if you told me I would have a chance on the 18th hole to win Bay Hill, I would be ecstatic with that.”
Scheffler Finishes Tied for 24th
World No. 1 and two-time Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Scottie Scheffler shot four rounds in the 70s, closing with a 1-over 73, to finish tied for 24th at 2 under. It was his first finish outside the top 20 since the 2025 WM Phoenix Open (T25). Scheffler hasn’t finished outside the top 25 since the 2024 BMW Championship (T33).
Cameron Young and Ludvig Aberg tied for third at 12 under, their first top-5s of the year. Collin Morikawa was alone in fifth at 11 under.
McIlroy Questionable for The Players
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy withdrew after the second round at Bay Hill with back spasms. The Players defending champion said he’s receiving treatment at home in South Florida and doesn’t plan to arrive in Ponte Vedra until Wednesday.
Like McIlroy, Scheffler is a two-time winner of The Players and the only golfer to win it back-to-back. Bhatia is in the elite field, along with second-year Tour player Ricky Castillo, who won the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open Sunday for his first career title.
