- Publish date:
At Home on the Range
Akshay Bhatia appeared in FACES IN THE CROWD in September 2017 after winning the Boys' Junior PGA Championship, where he shot 22 under par to break Pat Perez's 24-year-old tournament record by five strokes. Now the 16-year-old Wake Forest, N.C., native is putting together more dominant performances just in time for next month's U.S. Amateur, which will take place at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill. Shooting a 17-under 267 at July's Polo Golf Junior Classic at Echo Lake Country Club in Westfield, N.J., Bhatia took the event—his second AJGA win of the season—by 10 strokes. The lefty also won the prestigious Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in South Carolina in April. The victory in Westfield lofted Bhatia to the top of the AJGA's boys' rankings, which will most likely make him a favorite to represent the Americans in the Junior Ryder Cup in September in Paris.
