Explaining Akshay Bhatia’s TOUR status after his win at the Barracuda Championship
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Akshay Bhatia has always been ahead of the curve.
He played his first PGA TOUR event at age 17, the same year he became the youngest American ever selected to play in the prestigious Walker Cup (2019).
He finished in the top 10 of a PGA TOUR event at age 18 and won his first Korn Ferry Tour event at 19, making him the third-youngest player ever to win on that circuit (behind only PGA TOUR winners Sungjae Im and Jason Day).
Now, at just 21 years old, Akshay Bhatia is a PGA TOUR winner. Bhatia won the Barracuda Championship on Sunday in a playoff over Patrick Rodgers. With the victory, Bhatia immediately became a PGA TOUR member and thus eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs should he earn the requisite number of points.
Akshay Bhatia’s winning highlights from Barracuda Championship
The top 70 in the FedExCup standings after next week’s Wyndham Championship qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs. Bhatia is currently 92nd in standings with 435 points, 132 behind No. 70 K.H. Lee.
Bhatia’s FedExCup points total includes points from his runner-up finish at the Puerto Rico Open and fourth-place finish at the Mexico Open at Vidanta. He has made the cut in 13 of 18 starts this season, including six top-25 finishes. His points from his Barracuda victory and T9 at the previous week’s Barbasol Championship are not included, however.
Bhatia was competing on the PGA TOUR this season as a Special Temporary Member, status that he earned with his runner-up finish in the Puerto Rico Open in March. FedExCup points won by non-members and Special Temporary Members who subsequently become members during the season (i.e., through a victory) have all points earned earlier in the season applied toward the FedExCup standings, except for points earned in World Golf Championships, the Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship, where he won. As part of the strategic alliance between the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour, the Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship both offer 50 spots to players from the DP World Tour’s priority ranking.
Bhatia withdrew from this week's 3M Open on Monday evening. He needs at least a solo fourth-place finish at next week's Wyndham Championship, the TOUR's Regular Season finale, to crack the top 70 in the FedExCup standings.