Daily Wrap Up<\/p>\n
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Akshay Bhatia\u2019s Round 4 highlights from Arnold Palmer<\/p>\n
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Written by Associated Press<\/p>\n
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Akshay Bhatia missed a 30-inch par putt to fall five shots behind Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, angry enough to want to do something about it. What followed was a charge on the back nine at Bay Hill that would have made the King proud.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must play boldly to win,\u201d was one of Palmer’s famous quotes.<\/p>\n
Bhatia was every bit of that. Four straight birdies got him into the mix. Two shots behind with three to play, he hit 6-iron to a dangerous pin on the par-5 16th that nearly went into the cup<\/a> on the second bounce and set up a short eagle to stay in the game.<\/p>\n And then he outlasted Daniel Berger in the first playoff at Bay Hill since 1999 \u2014 three years before Bhatia was born \u2014 to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational in a stunning comeback.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he was up there watching, he’s probably pretty proud of how that finished,\u201d said Bhatia, wearing the red cardigan that goes to the winner of Palmer’s tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cPlay bold \u2014 I think that was a big thing everyone knows of Mr. Palmer,\u201d he said. \u201cI could feel that energy and buzz. It was awesome. I’m very fortunate to win this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Akshay Bhatia interview after winning Arnold Palmer<\/p>\n Bhatia, who also took on the flag over the rock-framed water on the 18th in regulation and nearly pulled it off, closed with a 3-under 69 and won his third PGA TOUR title, all of them in playoffs.<\/p>\n This was the biggest, a $20 million Signature Event that moves the 24-year-old into the top 20 in the world at the start of a big stretch in golf that concludes with the Masters next month.<\/p>\n Berger looked like he had this won, walking confidently after shots in building a four-shot lead at the turn. He lost the lead by missing a 7-foot par putt on the 17th hole and showed plenty of moxie just to get into the playoff with an up-and-down from 70 yards for par on the final hole for a 70.<\/p>\n They finished at 15-under 273.<\/p>\n Berger, who hit his tee shot into the right rough on the 18th in regulation, pulled his drive in the playoff and did well to hammer a 6-iron to the front edge of the green, 106 feet away. He rolled that to 7 feet below the hole, and his par putt to extend the playoff was weak and missed below the cup.<\/p>\n Bhatia played to the center of the green. He took two putts from just inside 30 feet for the win and the $4 million prize.<\/p>\n Akshay Bhatia\u2019s Round 4 highlights from Arnold Palmer<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone knows when you show up to Bay Hill it’s going to be a test,\u201d Bhatia said.<\/p>\n He also felt like he had some of \u201cArnie’s Army\u201d on his side down the stretch, and there were moments the crowd was clearly in his favor, and opposed to Berger.<\/p>\n \u201cNo pressure,\u201d one spectator yelled as Berger walked in for a putt just inside 15 feet for par in regulation that he holed to force the playoff. \u201cGet in the water,\u201d another spectator said on his putt.<\/p>\n Bhatia started the back nine with four straight birdies, one of them from just inside 60 feet on the 11th hole<\/a>. There was a two-shot swing at the 13th when Bhatia holed a 10-foot birdie putt and Berger had a plugged lie in a bunker, facing a shot to the crispy green with water on the other side. He smartly played back toward the fairway and salvaged a bogey, his lead down to one shot.<\/p>\n The final hour turned electric on the par-5 16th with Bhatia’s biggest shot. He said caddie Joe Greiner told him, \u201cJust try to hit the best 6-iron of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was one of those professional pushes,\u201d he said. \u201cI wasn’t trying to aim at the flag.\u201d<\/p>\n Berger, who missed 18 months with a back injury after the 2022 U.S. Open and suffered a broken finger last August, was trying to become the first wire-to-wire winner at Bay Hill in 10 years.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s tough to win. It’s tough to battle,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I feel like I did a good job, and a shot here or there was the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel Berger interview after playoff loss at Arnold Palmer<\/p>\n That goes for Bhatia, too. He and Berger returned Sunday morning to finish the third round. Berger had a three-shot lead until the 18th hole, when he made bogey from the right rough and Bhatia made birdie when his 10-foot putt hung on the lip for just under 10 seconds and then dropped.<\/p>\n Berger’s consolation prize, aside from the $2.2 million for finishing second, was earning a spot in The Open Championship and moving well into the top 40 in the world, which should make him safe to return to the Masters next month.<\/p>\n Cameron Young, who used to spend his winters in Orlando as a kid, played bogey-free for a 69 and tied for third with Ludvig \u00c5berg (67).<\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler took another double bogey on the 18th hole \u2014 his second in as many rounds and his third double bogey in his last 19 holes at Bay Hill \u2014 for a 73. He tied for 24th. It was the first time since the U.S. Open last year that he failed to break 70 at a tournament.<\/p>\n *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-11jnzpa>img,.css-11jnzpa>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-11jnzpa::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;}]]> Mar 8, 2026<\/p>\n Berger shows signs of old despite last-minute loss at Bay Hill<\/a>Latest<\/a>![\"Akshay](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773054849_706_image.jpg\")
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"12H AGO 4 Min Read Daily Wrap Up *:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-17ygvlf>img,.css-17ygvlf>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-17ygvlf::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:56.25%;}]]> Akshay Bhatia\u2019s Round 4 highlights from Arnold Palmer *:not(style)~*:not(style){margin-top:0.5rem;-webkit-margin-end:0px;margin-inline-end:0px;margin-bottom:0px;-webkit-margin-start:0px;margin-inline-start:0px;}]]>…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-524421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}