PGA Tour Rising Star Pulls Out of Valspar Championship Amid $1M Payout
7 hours ago
2,982
The PLAYERS Championship concluded on Monday, with Rory McIlroy besting JJ Spaun in a three-hole playoff. They finished two shots clear of a host of golfers during the final round, including PGA Tour rising star Akshay Bhatia.
The day after finishing T3 at the Players and earning more than $1 million, Bhatia announced he is withdrawing from this week’s Valspar Championship, scheduled for March 20-23.
Bhatia, the 23-year-old golfer, withdrew from the $8.7 million event after Rory McIlroy’s stunning performance at TPC Sawgrass. Unfortunately, the reason behind Bhatia’s withdrawal has not been disclosed.
But this isn’t Bhatia’s first withdrawal, as he also pulled out of the Farmers Insurance Open 2025 in February as well. However, that was after playing his opening round.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 16: Akshay Bhatia of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass… PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – MARCH 16: Akshay Bhatia of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 16, 2025 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
Tilton/Getty Images
Bhatia has already played his way into Augusta National. So, one must wonder whether fatigue was a factor in his decision.
Had Bhatia played this week, he will have competed in eight of 10 tournaments leading into the Masters.
Not to mention, his success at The PLAYERS vaulted him to 21st in the Official World Golf Rankings and 16th in the FedEx Cup standings.
To be candid, does not need to participate nearly as much now.
Looking back at his performance at the Valspar last year, he carded a total of 4-under par, 8 strokes behind the winner, Peter Malnati. Since then, the 23-year-old has shown significant improvement.
The pro will be replaced by Alejandro Tosti, who made a hole-in-one at the 17th hole and became an entertainment sensation at the TPC Sawgrass.
The PGA Tour pro had just signed a million-dollar paycheck at the Players Championship on Sunday, finishing with four birdies and three bogeys in the final round of the ‘fifth major.’
He is expected to be in San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open to defend the title he won last year. That will lead into Augusta National.
What do you think? What happened to Akshay Bhatia? Let us know in the comment section below!
More Golf:Rory McIlroy Reveals Anne Hathaway Film Calmed His ‘Nerves’ Before PLAYERS Win
A legjobb élmény biztosítása érdekében olyan technológiákat használunk, mint a cookie-k az eszközadatok tárolására és/vagy eléréséhez. Ha beleegyezik ezekbe a technológiákba, akkor olyan adatokat dolgozhatunk fel ezen az oldalon, mint a böngészési viselkedés vagy az egyedi azonosítók. A hozzájárulás elmulasztása vagy visszavonása bizonyos funkciókat és funkciókat hátrányosan érinthet.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
