Akshay Bhatia recalls Scottie Sheffler’s Korn Ferry Tour days while re-affirming his own age

Akshay Bhatia finished the third round of Global Champion Challenge 2025 With 68 on Friday. In doing so, the PGA Tour golfer joined former Wyndham Clark (68), JJ Spawn (68), Hideki Matsuyama (66) and Cameron Young (64) in a five-way lead at Albany Golf Club. After the round, the 23-year-old emphasized his age while talking about his playing style over the years.

As for the runners, Bhatia sat at 10-under 134 at the end of the third round. The golfer birdied the 18th to take the lead alongside four others as nearly half of the 20-player field remained separated by two shots heading into the weekend. Interestingly, the tour made the golfer look at his game and reiterate that he is the “youngest guy” in the Hero World Challenge field. He also mentioned that Scotty Scheffler He was “still making his way around Korn Ferry” when he was 23 years old.

The two-time PGA Tour winner also paid tribute to the world No. 1 by mentioning his accomplishments at the age of 28. Akshay Bhatia admitted to using the careers of Schaeffler and Rickie Fowler as examples to remind himself of the length of the golfer’s career.

Speaking at the Hero World Challenge on Friday, Akshay Bhatia He said, as quoted by Tee Scripts:

“I guess I don’t really realize how young I am. This week I’m the youngest guy in the business, which is hard for me to deal with. And the one thing I ask myself, which is kind of funny, I don’t know if I should share, but I have to ask myself what was Scottie Scheffler doing when he was 23? He was still making his way on the Korn Ferry Tour, or maybe not, I don’t know, but look where he is now at 27 years old, 28 years old.”

So, I just try to remind myself that no matter how hard or easy some things are, it’s a long career. I was talking to Rickie (Fowler), it’s his 17th year coming up, and it’s really amazing to handle that for me because I feel like I’ve been here a long time and I haven’t even been close to that.

It is worth noting that Schaeffler played 20 tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019. The 23-year-old won the circuit’s Most Valuable Player award after finishing in the top 10 in 10 starts, winning twice. Furthermore, the four-time major winner also made his debut on the PGA Tour that year.

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Exploring Akshay Bhatia’s 2025 season

Akshay Bhatia was a strong man PGA Tour A season that included four top ten finishes. The 23-year-old managed a T9 at The Genesis Invitational and followed it up with a solo ninth place at the Mexican Open. He later celebrated a T6 at the FedEx St. Jude. However, his best result came at the Players Championship, where he finished T3, a week after missing out on the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The young golfer recorded top-32 scores at The Sentry, Phoenix Open, and Pebble Beach before finishing in the top 20 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and Memorial Tournament. His missed cuts included the PGA Championship and the US Open. The withdrawal from the Wyndham Championship also halted his brilliant run in the latter part of the season.

Akshay Bhatia finished the PGA Tour with a missed cut at the Sanderson Farms Championship before getting underway in the Hero World Challenge this weekend.

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Here are the full details of Akshay Bhatia’s 2025 tours on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour:

• Ranger – T32 (-16)
• Hero Dubai Desert Classic – T37 (-2)
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am – T22 (-10)
• WM Phoenix Open – T32 (-8)
• Genesis Call – T9 (-6)
• Mexico Open at Vedanta World – 9 (-15)
• Arnold Palmer Invitational – Missing Cut (+8)
• Players Championship – T3 (-10)
• Valero Texas Open – The Missing Pieces (E)
• Masters Tournament – T42 (+4)
• RBC Heritage – T42 (-5)
• Trost Championship – T46 (-2)
• PGA Championship – Missing Pieces (+2)
• Charles Schwab Challenge – T22 (-4)
• Memorial Tournament – T16 (+1)
• US Open – Missing Pieces (+10)
• Travelers Championship – T54 (+2)
• Classic missile – T26 (-15)
• Open – T30 (-4)
• 3M Open – T25 (-14)
• Wyndham Championship – Withdrawn
• FedEx St. Jude Championship – T6 (-10)
• BMW Championship – T26 (+2)
• Tour Championship – T13 (-10)
• Procore Championship – T11 (-11)
• Sanderson Farms Championship – The Missing Pieces (+1)

More details about Akshay Bhatia’s performance in the Bahamas will be updated as the event progresses.