Akshay Bhatia won the Arnold Palmer Invitational 2026 by defeating Daniel Berger in the first playoff round to win his 3rd PGA Tour title. It could have been another title for him if not for a disappointing Sunday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. It was a moment that exposed the margins between winning and falling back. But that was followed by a brutal yet impactful conversation with his wife.

“Yeah, it’s interesting. I started out the year very nervous, very anxious of how my game was going to be. Like, what if nothing goes great? And then it was funny, my wife had a conversation with me after American Express, saying you give anxiety too much power, you consistently say, ‘Oh, this is holding me back,’ and all this stuff,” Akshay Bhatia told Smylie Kaufman on The Smylie Show.

“So, we changed the dialogue in my head at least, where I either I don’t mention that word or um I change it as like energy or excitement or whatever. And so, after that talk I had with her going into Pebble, I was so calm at the Waste, and then I was very calm at Pebble, and I played great.”

Because of the reality check from his wife, Presleigh Schultz, Akshay Bhatia was calm and composed at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. This helped him put on a stellar performance at the start. He went bogeyless in the first two rounds. After posting rounds of 65-64, he was tied with Riyo Hisatsune at the top of the leaderboard midway.

While Hisatsune fell back with a third round of 74, Bhatia continued his dominance. In his third round, the 3x PGA Tour winner carded a score of 68. He entered the final round in the lead only to face a disappointing heartbreak.

In the final round, the American professional posted an even-par score. It included two birdies on holes 2 and 14 and two bogeys on holes 4 and 6. Because of that, he slid down to 6th position at the end of the event. On the contrary, Collin Morikawa, who was 2 strokes behind Akshay Bhatia after Round 3 ended up winning the title and the winner’s paycheck of $3,600,000.

For Bhatia, the breakthrough eventually came at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. This was his first win after the Valero Texas Open in April 2024. Besides that, he missed the cut at the first two events he played on the PGA Tour in 2026. Since he was having a disappointing run and it had been nearly two years since his last win, it was natural for the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational winner to feel anxious and nervous. However, it was his wife who helped him clear troubling thoughts from his mind after American Express.

This reflected in his performances, too. Since the talk with his wife, he has made the cut in all the events he played in. After finishing T3, T6, and T16 at the WM Phoenix Open, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and the Genesis Invitational, respectively, he won the 3rd title of his career at Bay Hill.

The turnaround in Bhatia’s mindset didn’t happen in isolation. As his results began to improve, so did his perspective on something even bigger than competition.

Akshay Bhatia opens up about married life with Presleigh Schultz

The American professional is playing at the Hero Indian Open from March 26 to March 29, 2026. At the pre-event press conference, he was asked about his marital life. Bhatia married his long-time girlfriend, Schultz, in December 2025. The two had met in 2021.

Giving a response to the media, he opened up about how marriage has shifted his outlook during a demanding stretch in his career. He described the experience as a calming influence, especially after weeks of planning for it.

Golfers need to travel and compete year-round. Thus, balancing personal commitments alongside professional expectations wasn’t easy. Still, Akshay Bhatia made it clear that the payoff has been worth it.

Even with outside noise and growing expectations, Bhatia’s focus appears more grounded than before. His marriage to Presleigh Schultz didn’t remove the pressure of competition. However, it has given him something steady to lean on.