The door to LIV closed on January 7, 2026. The door to Tiger Woods’s TGL franchise opened the same day. For Akshay Bhatia.

The 2x PGA Tour winner rejected a reportedly “lucrative” offer from Phil Mickelson‘s HyFlyers GC. Hours later, Tiger Woods welcomed the 24-year-old left-hander into Jupiter Links Golf Club as the team’s official alternate.

“Lefty has arrived,” Woods declared in the announcement video.

Bhatia now joins a roster featuring Woods, Max Homa, Tom Kim, and Kevin Kisner. The role of official alternate in TGL is not ceremonial. Bhatia will practice, prepare, and strategize alongside the core squad—integrated into the team’s competitive fabric rather than waiting on the periphery.

For a young PGA Tour star, the calculus is clear. LIV offered a paycheck, and Woods offered proximity to his dreams. Mickelson wasn’t just another captain dangling money. He had mentored Bhatia for years, guiding the young left-hander through the early stages of his professional career. But Bhatia said no. Going to LIV would have meant no TGL, no legacy, and no guaranteed spot in the majors.

The two-time PGA Tour winner, ranked 46th in the world, wants to win majors. Though he has 2 wins on the Tour and has earned $11.5 million in his career, he puts majors above Tour wins. So, what Bhatia needs now is a seat in the room where champions are forged. Tiger Woods’s invitation solves that problem.

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What Akshay Bhatia’s TGL alternate role actually means

The title sounds like a consolation prize. It isn’t. In TGL’s structure, the alternate serves as injury coverage, strategic practice partner, and embedded apprentice. Bhatia will train at the SoFi Center alongside Woods and Homa, sharpening his skills for the league’s simulator-based match play and short-game challenges. He sits in on strategy sessions. He absorbs the competitive rhythms of a team that prioritizes camaraderie as much as competition.

The dynamic functions like a little brother arrangement: learning by proximity, earning trust through preparation, waiting for the moment when opportunity strikes. For a Jupiter local, the geographic fit is seamless. For a 24-year-old creative shot-maker hungry for mentorship, the access is invaluable.

While LIV Golf signs international talents to fill roster gaps, the PGA Tour and TGL ecosystem have deployed a different retention strategy: proximity to legends. Bhatia’s signing exemplifies the approach. Money wasn’t the differentiator—prestige was. The chance to practice with Tiger Woods, to absorb decades of championship experience, to be welcomed into golf’s most exclusive fraternity. That currency doesn’t depreciate.

Now the 24-year-old trains alongside the greatest to ever play the game. For a young lefty with two wins and a world ranking climbing toward the top 25, that access is the real paycheck. The long game begins.