Daniel Berger led Akshay Bhatia with five hits on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough.
Bhatia’s impressive back-nine 31 on Sunday propelled him into a playoff where he beat Daniel Berger, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Coming off the weekend, Bhatia moves up to second in the FedEx Cup standings.
It’s easily the biggest win of the 24-year-old Californian’s career.
As Berger fades, Bhatia grows
It was Daniel Berger’s turn to lose, but the momentum began to shift as they began the second nine.
Berger’s lead was up to five strokes Sunday — he carded a front nine 34 to Bhatia’s 38 — but all was not well on the back nine. Bhatia came roaring back with four straight birdies from the 10th hole to the 13th, suddenly turning the tide.
Still down by two shots going into the 16th, Bhatia gained a shot on Berger when he eagled 16 after Berger only made birdie. He then tied things up when he made a par at the difficult 17th—Berger was delighted.
The momentum was shifting Bhatia’s way as the two approached the final hole of regulation.
Drama on the 18th
Bhatia drove the ball well down the left side of the fairway, leaving a perfect angle on the dangerous 18th green.
Berger continued with many cuts, finding himself in the right position with no real chance of reaching the green. He lay on the road, 70 meters from the hole.
Bhatia’s approach almost found the water but landed in the mess, just 18 feet from the hole.
Berger putt his approach to 13 feet, while Bhatia putt his chip 20 inches, forcing Berger to make if he wanted to force a playoff—from 13 feet away, Berger sank it.
Bhatia’s interception sent them back to the tee box to replay 18.
playoffs
Daniel Berger started things off, pulling his car into the rough. Bhatia followed with a straight drive to left-center of the fairway.
Their approaches made the difference. Berger chipped it off his rough, barely trickling onto the green, leaving himself a 107-foot birdie putt. Bhatia placed his safe approach to the center of the green, 80 yards closer to the hole than Berger.
Berger left himself an 8-footer, while Bhatia barely missed his birdie putt, giving himself a short putt for first.
Berger left his shot short and low.
This allowed Bhatia to clear his first ball to win the third PGA Tour event of his young career.
Redemption for Akshay
Bhatia held a six-stroke lead over the field during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but squandered it during the weekend rounds.
He found himself on the other side of the coin this weekend, clawing back from a huge deficit to take the win.
Bhatia is playing his best golf now. This is his third top-10 finish this season. He quickly established himself as one of the top young stars in golf.
Other stories
- Scottie Scheffler didn’t look like himself, finishing T-24, his worst of the season and his worst finish since more than a year ago at the WM Open (he finished 25th).
- Rory McIlroy made the cut but withdrew from the event before the third round with a back injury.
- Collin Morikawa continues to play as one of the best in the world this season, capturing his third consecutive top-10 ranking.
