MIND / JOURNEYS M
T he best juniors play in the US Kids World Champion- ships in Pinehurst, so my dad, Sonny, and my mom, Renu, flew us from our home in Los Angeles to North Carolina so that my sister, Rhea, and I could compete. My parents, who had grown up in London and Hong Kong, decided to raise us in North Carolina rather than chaotic Los Angeles. At the time, my dad had a tumour in his eye, and the doctors were more convenient in North Carolina. He’s blind in that eye now, but he’s doing well. the Fast Track He turned pro when many said he shouldn’t. For a year, it seemed like they were right By Akshay Bhatia with Keely Levins Akshay Bhatia Is Enjoying
ery cut. I wasn’t making money, and I was burning myself out. The pan- demic, as awful as it was, saved me. Tournaments were shut down. I had to go home and figure it out. I started working with Chase Duncan. He’s like a second dad. We structured my practice and added shots to my game. Off the tee, I learned how to hit it low, a draw, and get extra carry. Before, I had only one stock driver shot. He and my men- tal coach, Greg Cartin, helped me see you need to still feel OK after losing. In junior golf, I had success. In pro golf, I fail all the time. I had to learn about my- self to survive it. That process made me mature a lot. Failing helped me learn. Winning helps, too. ● ● ● A lot was stacked against me before my Korn Ferry win in the Bahamas in 2022, when I became the third teen- ager to win on that tour. Three weeks before, I dislocated my shoulder play- ing pickleball. My doctors wanted me to wait, but the pain wasn’t too bad. Be- fore we left, my friend and former cad- die, Jonas Hillyard, tested positive for COVID. My girlfriend, Presleigh Schul- tz, doesn’t play golf, but she was com- ing anyway, so I asked her to caddie. We met through Instagram in 2021. I sent her a message without having met her. She was at Texas A&M and came to the Texas Open. We’re now engaged. ● ● ● She’s a calm, happy person. We have this joke where we ask, “Are you ner- vous?” when we’re sitting on a plane and things like that. The other person laughs and says, “No.” Throughout the final round we kept it light by ask- ing each other, “Are you nervous?” She got to feel the tension inside the ropes when a win was on the line. We’ll be tell- ing people about that week forever. ● ● ● When I turned pro, I didn’t know how hard it was going to be. That first vic- tory restored my self-belief. In 2023 I received special temporary PGA Tour member status after a second place at the Puerto Rico Open. Then I won in July at the Barracuda Championship the same week all the big-name players were competing in the Open at Hoylake. Last year I achieved a dream of playing in all four major championships.
I got my first PGA Tour start at the 2019 Valspar Championship in Tam- pa on a sponsor’s exemption. I was 17, an amateur. I missed the cut, but I had self-belief. I also had data on every as- pect of my game, thanks to TrackMan. I had a good swing coach, George Gankas.
We moved to Wake Forest when I was 10. I started loving golf then. I liked being outside, and I wasn’t a big kid, so I appreciated that there was no contact. I wore my golf clothes to school so that I could go straight to the course. Everyone knew me as the golf kid. ● ● ●
I watched Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Matt Wolff all turn pro and be- lieved I needed to do the same. I turned pro later that year thinking I was ready, but I was wrong. ● ● ●
We lived five minutes from a course. My sister went on to play college golf at Queens Univer- sity in Charlotte. She and I played together a lot. There were kids to play
AKSHAY BHATIA PGA TOUR WON 2023 BARRACUDA CHAMPS, 2024 TEXAS OPEN AGE 23 LIVES JUPITER, FLORIDA
When I turned pro instead of going to college, a lot of people said it was a bad idea, but my family stuck with me. My parents have sacrificed a lot. My dad stopped working and travelled with me during junior golf. My mom worked a lot to support the house and my golf. We still wouldn’t get a lot of family time when I was home because my mom was working so much. When I turned pro, my sister travelled with me. She rented cars and booked ho- tels because I wasn’t old enough. We sacrificed a normal family life, but we believed it was worth it. I have now re- paid my mom. ● ● ● My first year as a pro, I missed ev-
with, too. I played in tournaments with older kids. I wasn’t a long hitter, so I had to be creative. I got around big carries by playing to other tee boxes. I was hit- ting driver off the deck when no other kids were doing it. ● ● ● I stopped going to in-person school in sixth grade and switched to on- line. I was on the road too much. I start- ed dominating junior golf. I became the first high schooler to compete for Team USA in the Walker Cup (2019). I had al- ready played for USA teams in the Ju- nior Presidents Cup (2017) and Junior Ryder Cup (2018). I was always in con- tention, and I knew how to win. ● ● ●
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN LOOMIS
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 15
MARCH/APRIL 2025
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