NC homecoming, warm welcome, make Akshay Bhatia’s round in Charlotte special
It was about 15 minutes after he finished his round on Friday — 15 minutes after drilling a tough putt on 18, no less — when Akshay Bhatia wasn’t sure what to say.
So he smiled instead.
Why? Because the longtime Wake Forest, North Carolina, resident was informed that N.C. Gov. Josh Stein said before the round that he was openly rooting for Bhatia — the tremendous 24-year-old lefty and ascending fan favorite on the PGA Tour.
“It’s really cool,” Bhatia told The Charlotte Observer, summoning a response to that news.
He smiled and shrugged again: “Yeah, it’s awesome to hear that.”
This is merely a sliver of the warm welcome Bhatia received on Friday, which saw an impressive second round that thrusted the powerful lefty to one-under-par on the day and minus-4 overall, comfortably in the Top 20 heading into the weekend. You could hear and feel the welcome by walking with his group: fans of all ages rooting him on, holding their breath every time he leaned over his long putter.
That was especially true on 18, his final hole of the day, when Bhatia chipped up and one-putted to save par. There were cheers and kids begging for high-fives from him. He was probably happy to high-five himself for his par-par-par performance through the infamous “Green Mile” — the toughest stretch of holes in all the PGA circuit, PGA stats show. (The pin placement was about as tricky as it could be on Friday, pressed up really close to a ledge that, if overshot, could funnel golf balls into a nearby creek.)
“It’s one of my favorite tournaments of the year,” Bhatia said. “I mean, the fans are amazing. The golf course is as good as it gets. This is one I was looking forward to just because I’ve had some not-great results here, and this is a golf course I feel like I can play well and just keep learning.”
Bhatia’s last three years of “not great” finishes at Quail Hollow PGA events include 43rd (2023), 42nd (2024) and a missed cut (major 2025).
“Quail Hollow is a challenge unlike any other,” he continued. “It’s a tough golf course all around. Even on the shorter holes, it never feels like it lets up. So I love it.”
Friday’s performance also offered Bhatia a moment of reflection. The 24-year-old golf phenom has had a pretty remarkable journey to being a favorite on the PGA Tour. He made his first PGA Tour start in 2019 at age 17 and qualified for his first U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2021. He’d later climb up the ladder and continue developing his game, until breaking through and earning his first PGA Tour victory at the Barracuda Championship in July 2023.
His latest — and most impressive — feat to date was when he won the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational, his first signature event, in April.
“I wouldn’t trade anything (about my journey) for the world,” Bhatia said Friday. “What we do for a living is such a blessing. I think everyone wants to achieve everything very fast. And that’s how I’ve always been, especially since I’ve turned pro.
“So each year, I think I reflect and realize that what I’ve done has been really good and on a trend. There have been ebbs and flows, but we always want more, and that’s what’s hard about this game: anyone can win, and you can work as hard as you can and the results might not come. But it’s such a blessing to play this game.”
Bhatia added that he loves that some recognize his ascension as close to perfectly linear — even if he doesn’t always see it that way.
“Sometimes I maybe feel like I’m way behind where I want to be,” Bhatia said. “But at the end of the day, anytime you can get to Tour Championship, and contend in some of these tournaments, it proves a lot to yourself.
“Sometimes I don’t realize how young I am.”
His home state does, though.
And that’s what has made his career ascension — and days like Friday — even sweeter.
