Orlando, Florida – Akshay Bhatia comes from behind to win a playoff and breaks a two year winless drought by winning the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational for his third PGA Tour victory. Daniel Berger held a one shot lead on Sunday over playing partner and eventual winner Akshay Bhatia who battled to come back just to force a playoff. Bhatia’s massive eagle on the par five 16th hole proved to be the turning point after making par on the first playoff hole to secure the win.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational always brings a strong field, which is mostly in part because of the respect players give to the late, great Mr. Palmer himself. Players like Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Scottie Scheffler, and Rickie Fowler make it one of the strongest fields so far in 2026. It’s no surprise as it is a leadup to The 2026 Players Championship, just a few miles east of Bay Hill.
Nonetheless, Bay Hill presents a challenge unlike many other courses. Some great players had trouble posting good scores. Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Justin Rose and last week’s contender Shane Lowry all missed the cut after carding scores in the mid to upper 70s. Since the cut was at two over par, you can see how difficult the course played this week.
Among those players who did manage to make the cut were Tommy Fleetwood and Hideki Matsuyama, both of which had at least two rounds over par and were never really in contention.
Two time major winner Colin Morikawa put himself near the leaders during his final round making some early birdies at one and six. Even with an eagle on 16, a bogey on 18 took him out of contention but still allowed him a solo fifth finish. In the final group, Akshay Bhatia and Daniel Berger went toe to toe looking to secure the win. While Daniel drained birdies at one, four, nine, 12 and 16, Berger bogeyed the 13th and 17th to stay at 15 under par. Meanwhile, Bhatia was one or two strokes back most of the day until he made a huge eagle on 16 to get within one. After Berger bogeyed the 17th, the pair went to 18 all square for the lead. Despite neither player hitting the green in two, both players managed to save par to go to a playoff.
During the playoff, both players went back to 18 and once again only Bhatia hit the fairway. Berger’s approach landed a mile from the hole but still on the green while Akshay hit his to 20 feet. Daniel missed his par putt which opened the door for Akshay to tap in his for the win. This is Akshay’s third PGA Tour victory and will earn him 700 FedEx Cup points.
Next week the PGA Tour heads East to The Players Championship.
Akshay Bhatia What’s In The Bag:
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond Max 8.5 degrees (Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X)
3 Wood: Callaway Mini Driver Prototype (Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex UW proto 19 (Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X)
Irons: Callaway X Forged UT 22, Callaway Apex TCB Raw 5-P (KBS $-Taper 125 S+)
Wedges: Callaway Opus SP 50-10S, 54-10S, 60-08C (KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 135 X)
Putter: Odyssey AI Dual Jailbird 1/2 Ball
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