2026 PGA Tour: Akshay Bhatia Returns to Winners’ Circle at Big-Ticket Arnold Palmer Invitational
Mia Bhatia was too young to grasp the nuances of professional golf when her uncle broke through on the PGA Tour in 2023.
Akshay Bhatia had just stepped into adulthood and was learning on the job when he won the Barracuda Championship at 21, and did so again a year later at the Valero Texas Open. Now, with the Arnold Palmer Invitational win, Akshay Bhatia has added another landmark moment to a young career that continues to evolve.
Mia and Bhatia are champions in their domain, and despite competing successfully on the toughest golf tour, the latter remains in awe of his niece’s battles.
Mia was diagnosed with Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex Deficiency, an extremely rare genetic disease, at birth, and doctors did not give her a chance to complete a year.
The rush from home to the hospital became a norm, and amid the uncertainties and shadow of the inevitable, Mia rose like a Phoenix to beat the odds.
Just before Christmas last year, the family congregated at the Abaco Club in The Bahamas to solemnise Akshay’s wedding with long-time girlfriend Presleigh. Mia was there too, ready to tick another event in her short existence. She was six, and well beyond the span the doctors had hoped for her.
But this time, the small frame succumbed, and Mia left from the ‘Heaven on Earth,’ the house where the couple tied the knot.
The family was always prepared for what fate had in store, but hadn’t anticipated the emotional jolt during Bhatia’s big day. The impact was huge, and the pent-up feelings came out during the Arnold Palmer Invitational victory that Akshay Bhatia would dedicate to her memory.
