All-American Akshay returns 'home' for Indian Open

His dad is called Sunil, mom Renu. His sister is Rhea. He is Akshay. He’s an all-American boy. And this week marks his first visit to India. Arriving in Delhi, the place his father once called home, after an 18-hour flight from Orlando, Florida with a brief stopover in Amsterdam, Bhatia was smiling in anticipation.The trip would have materialised in 2020 for the then-18-yr-old rookie but the plan was waylaid by the Covid pandemic. Six years later, the World No. 22 tees off at the $2.55 million Hero Indian Open, fresh off a triumph at the PGA Tour’s signature $20 million Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he pocketed a cool $4 million. The Hero brand ambassador is no stranger to that winning feeling, with two PGA Tour victories earlier in 2023 and 2025. The 24-year-old also doesn’t melt under pressure, having completed a hat-trick of playoff wins, a hundred per cent record.“Arnold Palmer was an interesting one because I was never leading the golf tournament until the 18th, then we got into a playoff. But I think I just apply pressure consistently. Part of it is luck and part of it is the pressure that I was able to put on each of those players.”The Sunday back-nine short-game performance was the best by any PGA Tour winner since the beginning of the data-based Shotlink analysis in 2003.The wiry, bespectacled Bhatia was the youngest to compete for the US in the Walker Cup in 2019, at 17 years of age. He took the pro plunge right after high school, leapfrogging the universally preferred college golf route.“My dad did a lot of things differently. I played tour qualifiers when I was really young, US Open locals when I was 10, 11. By 17, I was playing really great compared to older kids,” he told the gathering media at the DLF Golf and Country Club. “I felt like I would learn a lot more from Tour and Major winners. We’re happy we made the decision because I felt like if I did go to college, I might have been playing against the same players that I was already a step ahead at the time.”In Akshay’s own words, his father quit work to travel with him when he was a junior, a working mom supported the expenses, and a sis played her part by renting cars, booking hotels and accompanying him when he was a teen pro. “We sacrificed a normal family life, but we believed it was worth it,” he had written once in a Golf Digest essay.Fast forward, he already feels like an old soul on the Tour. Jon Rahm is a good friend, Tiger Woods is his teammate in the TGL’s Jupiter Links GC. “Honestly, we’ve built more of a friendship than I’ve asked from him. About tips, I think his interpretation of what he feels is very different from anyone else. That’s why he’s great,” Bhatia said, with wideeyed wonder.The left-hander with a broomstick putter and a partner called Presleigh, is looking forward to trying his luck on DLF’s Gary Player Black Knight course. “I’ve watched a bunch of highlights. Last year, even par was maybe fifth or sixth, so it’s pretty interesting.”And then, it will be time for the gruelling journey to Augusta Masters. “Augusta is a long week, regardless of where you are in the world.”For now, let’s concentrate on this week. “I am excited,” he made his bow.