Akshay Bhatia was down in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, trailing leader Daniel Berger by multiple strokes after nine holes. However, Bhatia rallied in impressive fashion, and he tied his opponent for the tournament lead after 72 holes because of his impressive play on the back nine. Bhatia emerged as the tournament winner over Berger on the first playoff hole.
Bhatia and Berger both finished the final round at 15 under par. However, on the first extra hole, Bhatia found the fairway with his drive while Berger did not. As a result, Bhatia was able to make his par on the hole while Berger was unable to keep the playoff going as he bogeyed the hole.
Bhatia earned the third victory of his career at Bay Hill and this was his most notable triumph because the Palmer Invitational is considered one of the signature events on the PGA Tour. All three of Bhatia's tour victories have come in playoffs, and that makes him the third player in tour history to score his first three triumphs in that manner.
Bhatia was able to climb 15 spots in the FedEx standings and he now ranks second to Collin Morikawa.
The winner was able to climb back into the title picture on the 16th hole when he nailed his second shot on the par-5 hole within 4 feet of the hole. For a second it looked like that shot would find the hole for an albatross, but he had to settle for an eagle that drew him within one stroke of the lead. When Berger bogeyed the 17th hole, that set the stage for Bhatia's triumph in the playoff.
