Akshay Bhatia produced seven birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 5th for 9 points on Sunday to close with a total 40.
Overnight leader and fellow American Patrick Rodgers made four birdies and two bogeys to add six points to his tally for a total of 40 as well.
Rodgers’ ball found a divot in the fairway in the playoff leading to a bogey while Bhatia’s par won him his first PGA Tour title at the Barracuda Championship in his 36th Tour start at the age of 21 years, 5 months and 23 days.
“It’s obviously really just crazy that I got it done today. I mean, that first nine I was playing very bad. Hitting shots that I don’t normally hit. The feelings that I had, telling myself stories of what could happen, what if I hit it bad, what if I hit it great. What if I miss four 3-footers tomorrow. Anything could happen, right. I just kept reminding myself that I can do it. I had a lot of belief in my caddie today. He’s done it for a long time. We’ve only worked four weeks together and we got a win. So it’s pretty special.”
Bhatia joined the Tour as a Special Temporary Member after the 2023 Puerto Rico Open where he finished second. With this victory he joins as a full-time member and appears in the FedExCup standings for the first time.
With the top 70 players following the Wyndham Championship advancing to the FedExCup Playoffs he earns full exempt status on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour through 2025.
One of only two players to amass 20-or-more points in a round this week, DP World Tour member Julien Guerrier of France made ten birdies and eight pars in the final round for 20 points and a share of third place with 37 total points total.
Sweden’s Jens Dantorp tied for third after an eagle at the par-4 16th, six birdies and two bogeys for 15 points.
36-hole leader Ryan Gerard of the United States, competing out of the Special Temporary Membership category, made four birdies and five bogeys for three points for a total of 36 and a fifth place finish.
Scoring
The Barracuda Championship utilizes the Modified Stableford scoring format, the first PGA Tour event to use the format since The International in 2006. Players are allocated points based on the number of strokes taken at each hole with the goal of achieving the highest overall score.
Albatross +8
Eagle +5
Birdie +2
Par 0
Bogey -1
Double bogey or worse -3
