Akshay Bhatia marches toward full membership with top-five in Mexico

It wasn’t perhaps the Sunday that Akshay Bhatia envisioned, but the result could pay dividends down the line as he embarks on the early portion of his PGA TOUR career.

Bhatia, 21, played his way into Sunday’s final group at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, alongside none other than proven TOUR winners Jon Rahm and Tony Finau. For the newly minted full-fledged adult who is competing on Special Temporary Membership after a runner-up at the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year, it represented a potential life-changing opportunity – a win would activate full TOUR membership.

Bhatia couldn’t quite keep pace, posting a solid 1-under 70 in Sunday’s final round at Vidanta Vallarta for a solo fourth-place finish at 18 under, six back of Finau’s winning pace. It’s not a victory, and he remains in the conditional category that includes Special Temporary Members – but crucially, it’s another step toward cementing 2024 TOUR status.

Bhatia has now accrued 396 non-member FedExCup points this year, which would place him No. 76 on the current standings if he were a member. If his non-member points equal or surpass No. 125 on the official FedExCup standings at the conclusion of the FedExCup Fall, he will earn full 2024 PGA TOUR membership.

In order to become a full TOUR member this season and become eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs, Bhatia will need to win an event. A similar scenario emerged in 2021, when Will Zalatoris found ample success as a non-member, including a runner-up finish at the Masters, but was competing on Special Temporary Membership and thus was ineligible for the Playoffs.

Bhatia’s learning curve this season has been accelerated nonetheless. He began the year as a Korn Ferry Tour member, having finished No. 30 on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Regular Season Points List – when 25 players earned cards – and then failing to earn his TOUR card via the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. He returned to the Korn Ferry Tour earlier this season and recorded two top-10s in four starts before his season-altering showing in Puerto Rico.

He'll aim to carry the mojo from Mexico to the coming week’s Wells Fargo Championship, into which he had previously received a sponsor exemption but would have also qualified on the strength of his top-10 at Vidanta Vallarta.

“I know I'm capable of winning,” Bhatia said on Saturday evening in Mexico. “Obviously won on the Korn Ferry Tour (at the 2022 Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay), so I know what the feelings feel like going into tomorrow. We're just going to have fun.”

He’s having fun on the PGA TOUR, and don’t expect that vibe to slow anytime soon.