Akshay Bhatia’s Bay Hill triumph ends beneath rainbow with Arnie, Mia looking down
A rainbow appeared above at Bay Hill Club & Lodge as Akshay Bhatia slipped on the winner’s red cardigan and discussed his breakthrough PGA Tour win during the Arnold Palmer Invitational trophy presentation on Sunday.
Nearly 10 years since Palmer’s passing, Bhatia basked in the presence of the longtime tournament host . He felt The King’s influence during a Palmer-like Sunday charge on the back nine, erasing Daniel Berger’s five-shot advantage , forcing a sudden-death player and prevailing with a par on the first hole to the delight of the galleries clearly in Bhatia’s corner.
“I know he was up there watching and probably pretty proud of how that finish was for this week,” Bhatia said. “Just super fun. The fans were right there with me, which was really cool. It felt like Arnie’s Army for me.”
But under Orlando’s multicolored evening sky he also sensed someone else enjoying his moment from above. Bhatia’s niece Mia, who died in December at 6 years old, drove him to perform as he never had during a pressure-packed, emotionally charged atmosphere.
“When I saw that rainbow on 18,” he said, “it reminded me of her.”
Doctors didn’t expect Mia to reach her first birthday because of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency (PDCD), a rare, genetic disorder often fatal during infancy.
Mia lived long enough to join her family in the Bahamas to see Bhatia and his wife, Presleigh, marry. But on the couple’s Dec. 13 wedding day, Mia passed in an on-site home at Abaco Club known as “Heaven on Earth.”
“She was a fighter for a long time,” Bhatia said.
Mia’s uncle battled out on the course Sunday to earn a long-awaited victory while paying tribute to her.
“I told my sister, I’ve been thinking about her for a long time after she passed, and dedicated this win for her,” Bhatia said.
The 24-year-old needed an inspired performance to earn his first win at a PGA Tour signature event and third overall — along with a $4 million winner’s check.
Putting at an unbelievable level — just 70 putts through 54 holes — Bhatia had pulled within a shot of Berger when the third round concluded Sunday morning after weather suspended play Saturday evening with two groups still on the course.
When Bhatia missed a par putt inside 3 feet on the 9th hole, Berger was five shots ahead of him — and four clear of the rest of the field.
“That was just a mental mistake that you just can’t make in big tournaments, big golf courses,” Bhatia said. “So I went to 10 tee very angry.”
Rather than fold, Bhatia responded with four straight birdies to pull within two of Berger. He then bounced back from a bogey 5 at No. 15 with an eagle 3 at the par-5 16th following what he called “a perfect 6-iron” from 193 yards to 3 feet. Berger himself birdied the easiest hole on a difficult course to hold a one-shot advantage.
But Bhatia continued to apply pressure when he found the middle of the green from 184 yards over the water guarding the par-3 17th hole. Berger’s 7-iron went off the back of the green and led to a bogey when his missed his comeback putt from 8 feet.
The former Florida State standout was looking to join Fred Couples (1992) and Jason Day (2016) as the only wire-to-wire winners in the tournament’s 48-year history. Instead, the bogey left Berger without the lead for the first time since he carded a tournament-low 63 during the opening round.
Berger then missed the 18th fairway to the right, forcing him to layup and eventually sink a par just inside 15 feet to match Bhatia’s par.
Another errant tee shot put Berger in the left rough during sudden death, preventing him from taking on the right-front pin. He three-putted from 105 feet, while Bhatia cleaned up his par from 3 feet for the win to the roar of fans who’d supported him every step of the way Sunday.
“Definitely played bold,” he said. “I think that was a big thing that everyone knows of Mr. Palmer — and it was really cool. I could feel the energy and the buzz.
“It was awesome.”
Bhatia hugged veteran caddie Joe Greiner. The sinewy champion then cradled his wife, Presleigh, in his arm and kissed her at the front of the 18th green, along the water’s edge.
A bit later, clad in his champion’s cardigan and filled with joy, Bhatia saw the rainbow appear — bringing to mind both Arnie and Mia at the end of an emotional day he will forever cherish.
“This is another big step for me,” he said. “I never really thought that I could really do this with that amount of pressure. I feel like I’ve shied away from that. Today I dug down, I believed in what I could do and I executed nicely.”
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com .
