Akshay Bhatia has yet to win a PGA Tour event in regulation. His third career title, like the first two, came in a playoff, this time against Daniel Berger, after a remarkable back-nine fightback to snatch victory at the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Three wins, all in extra holes, and a quick game at Bay Hill that set new standards.

Golf analyst Justin Ray highlighted the numbers after Bhatia’s win. All data points put Bhatia’s performance in rare territory for the ShotLink era. Three records stood out.

Akshay Bhatia sets ShotLink era record for short game in a PGA Tour win

The number that anchors everything is +16.3. That is Bhatia’s combined strokes gained around the green and strokes gained putting for the week, and no PGA Tour winner has posted a higher figure since ShotLink began tracking shot-level data in 2004. Patrick Reed held the previous mark at +15.0 from his victory at the 2020 WGC-Mexico Championship.

Bhatia surpassed the previous record by more than a stroke at Bay Hill, a course known for punishing mistakes. The greens and rough at Bay Hill are among the toughest on Tour. After three rounds, he had already gained nearly eight strokes putting and over six around the green. The final round only increased his margin.

Akshay Bhatia joins Tiger Woods in a rare Bay Hill statistical company

Ray flagged a second detail that connects Bhatia to the most dominant player in the tournament’s history. Bhatia led the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational field in both strokes gained around the green and strokes gained putting. The last player to accomplish that at Bay Hill was Tiger Woods in 2009, a season where Woods won six times, captured the FedEx Cup, and led the Tour money list. Woods won that year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at 5-under, edging Sean O’Hair by a single stroke.

The connection to Woods is not just statistical. Bhatia turned down an offer from Phil Mickelson‘s HyFlyers GC and joined Woods’ Jupiter Links GC as an alternate. Woods personally welcomed him to the team. Now, Bhatia shares a rare record with his mentor at a course Woods has dominated for years.

Akshay Bhatia posts best putting week at Bay Hill since 2015

Bhatia’s putting was the difference. He gained over 11 strokes on the greens, the best at Bay Hill since Kiradech Aphibarnrat’s +12.7 in 2015. Aphibarnrat finished T6 that year. Bhatia turned his performance into a win.

Before Bay Hill, Bhatia ranked 55th in strokes gained putting at +0.335 for the season. At Bay Hill, he performed at nearly three times that rate per round, a stark contrast to the field’s scoring average of 72.36. The difference between his usual numbers and his Bay Hill output shows just how far above his standard he played.

Every one of Bhatia’s three PGA Tour titles has required extra holes. The 2023 Barracuda Championship against Patrick Rodgers, the 2024 Valero Texas Open against Denny McCarthy, and now the Arnold Palmer Invitational against Berger. The last player whose first three career wins all came in the playoffs was Cameron Smith, who completed that run between 2017 and 2021 before winning in regulation at the 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Bhatia is now 3-0 in the playoffs. His short game at Bay Hill shows that extra holes are not a weakness, but where he performs best.