Bhatia makes pro debut at Sanderson Farms with Callaway clubs
Akshay Bhatia (USGA photo)
At the end of the Walker Cup earlier this month, five men raised their hands in the post-round interview when asked who on the American team was turning professional. That included the youngest member of the team, 17-year-old Akshay Bhatia.
This isn’t a surprise, considering that Bhatia, of Wake Forest, N.C., long ago announced that college wasn’t for him and that he’d be pursuing a professional career as soon as it made sense.
When Bhatia makes his debut as a professional this week in the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship, he’ll do it as a Callaway staffer,
according to PGA Tour writer Andrew Tursky.
“Akshay is one of the most prolific amateurs the golf world has seen in a long time, and we’re thrilled to have him join our Professional TOUR Staff,” said Tim Reed, Senior Vice President of Global Sports Marketing at Callaway Golf, in a press release. “He has all the tools to compete at a high level, he’s mature beyond his years, and we’re confident that he is going to have a lot of success using our equipment. We’re fortunate to have so many impressive young players on our staff, and we look forward to working with Akshay for many years to come.”
Bhatia, a left-handed player, ended his junior career as the top-ranked player in the
Golfweek Junior Rankings. He won the Jones Cup in February, his first major amateur golf title, which earned him an exemption into the RSM Championship to be played in November.
Bhatia made his first PGA Tour start, as an amateur, in March at the Valspar Championship, but missed the cut. He Monday qualified for the Korn Ferry Tour’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship in Alabama, where he made the cut.