Accusations tend to follow success. From Patrick Reed’s free relief debate at the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open to Collin Morikawa’s 2023 Masters claims of marking his ball improperly on the 6th green, many elites have faced cheating accusations. Akshay Bhatia is now learning the same hard way. The 24-year-old rising star found himself at the center of a debate, and has now responded to it.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t care. I know people do it for views. I told [Dan] Rapaport last week, ‘I’d rather just take my shirt off and show everyone this is where I’m at because it’s three to four inches from my chest. Like, I’m not built like Adam Scott. I’m not built like Lucas Glover. And so yeah, it looks like it touches my shirt.” Akshay Bhatia said on Fore Play Podcast Plus about allegations of anchoring while putting.

“But I had a great conversation with the rules committee last week, and I obviously have a lot of integrity in this sport. People can say what they want to say. If I wasn’t playing well, no one would say anything. So again, it’s just people wanting to create noise, and if they want me to go shorter, then I’ll just bend down more. So it doesn’t matter to me.”

Bhatia uses a 50-inch Jailbird broomstick putter with a soft Microhinge insert and 3 degrees of loft. He adopted it in late 2023 after poor putting stats. He was ranked 183rd on the PGA Tour for SG: Putting in 2023. While the change has helped him improve his putting, it has brought another challenge.

Critics allege his right hand against his chest creates an illegal anchor point under Rule 14-1b. According to the rule, golfers cannot use body stabilization. Prior accusations arose at the WM Phoenix Open and the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in early 2026.

When Ways to Golf raised the question through an Instagram post, following the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am 2026, Akshay Bhatia commented, saying that the putter is literally two inches short of his chest. Then he went on to win the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational, which earned him $4,000,000. After his win, the same question arose again.

“It’s funny to me. Like people on the internet. I just don’t get it. I don’t know. It doesn’t make me upset, but it’s definitely like, dude, you have other people to pick on, or like this is just dumb,” Bhatia said.

As Akshay Bhatia said, he knows that people are doing it to get views because he is playing well. The rising PGA Tour pro has had an incredible start to the 2026 season. He did miss the cut at the two opening events, the American Express and the Farmers Insurance Open.

After that, though, he finished T3 at the WM Phoenix Open 2026 and T6 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. That’s when the allegations started to boil over. After that, he posted a T16 at the Genesis Invitational 2026, a T13 at the Players Championship 2026, and won the Arnold Palmer Invitational 2026.

Such accusations are not unique to Bhatia, though. Eugenio Chacarra, Bernhard Langer, Hank Haney, and Matti Schmid are just a few of the people who have encountered similar conversations. But Akshay Bhatia has also found support amidst such criticism.

Jordan Spieth stands up for Akshay Bhatia

Jordan Spieth defended Akshay Bhatia against anchoring cheating rumors. The debate stemmed from a final-round photo showing a dent in Bhatia’s shirt near the trailing hand of his broomstick putter.

The 13x PGA Tour winner gave some clarifications on Kay Adams’ Up & Adams Show during the Players Championship week.

“Anchoring is if that putter was touching his sternum… You can arm-bar now, but you can’t anchor it against your sternum,” Spieth said.

He emphasized that even if the 3x PGA Tour winner is performing an arm-bar, it requires skill to do that.

“If it were that easy… everybody would do it. It’s a skill to do. He’s been doing it for a long time,” Spieth said.

Jordan Spieth compared it to the NFL’s legal but controversial “Tush Push” play. He noted he’d try it if beneficial, but prefers shorter putters for hand control.