Consistency has quietly become Akshay Bhatia’s biggest strength on the PGA Tour. Following a remarkable 2025 season after grabbing a third-place finish at THE PLAYERS Championship, the 24-year-old made sure to carry the momentum into 2026. However, he faced an early stumble stepping into the current season. But he still managed to climb back to 15th in the FedExCup standings, showing the same resilience that defined his breakout run.
Now, as his form on the course continues to trend upward, his life off it is turning just as heads, especially with a growing taste for high-performance machines. And guess who inspired him to add one of his favourite machines to his garage. It’s none other than another car enthusiast, Rickie Fowler.
“This is my M3 Competition. Super fun, fast car. I put an exhaust really loud. As you can tell, down pipes makes it even louder. Feel bad for my neighbors. But Rickie Fowler is kind of the one that kind of got me into this car. He has one. His is really cool. Really souped up. The interior is really cool, too. It’s got these carbon red seats, which is sick. I love driving this. I drive it most of the time,” shared Bhatia while showing off his BMW M3 Competition.
The roaring BMW M3 Competition is a heavily modified ride inspired by none other than Rickie Fowler. Known for his own standout garage featuring machines like the Mercedes-AMG G63 and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Fowler’s influence has clearly rubbed off.
He further shared about his other cars, which include the likes of Cadillac Escalade-V and Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and he stated, “I was taking you guys through my car collection. One of my favorite things ever to have. Very blessed to have everything I do. So, we’ll start Escalade V. This thing is awesome. I mean, this is great for like the Florida swing when we’re driving to tournaments. We bring our dogs, taking a trip to Disney in this thing. It’s loud. It’s fast. It’s got cool custom wheels [Vossen Wheels] on it.”
The young pro recently pulled back the curtain on a car collection while in an interview with PGA Tour Studios. And as he showed off his collection with pride, he subtly reflected how he is trying to blend his golf success with luxury and speed. However, a few years back, young Bhatia was probably not sure that he would be able to boast such an exquisite collection of luxury cars.
“I never thought I’d ever buy it, but you know, had a great couple years. And again, I feel like anytime I’ve gotten a car, it’s been something I always worked towards. Motivates me in a way to obviously keep pushing so I can afford things like these,” said Bhatia, sharing his unfiltered thoughts.
Bhatia’s version and love for the machines, however, come with a twist. He likes them to be louder and more aggressive. Such a fascination also leaves him concerned for his neighbours. Meanwhile, as he balances his gameplay on the greens and his love for luxury cars, let’s take a look at his recent outing at the capital city of India.
How did Akshay Bhatia perform at the Hero Indian Open 2026?
Akshay Bhatia was supposed to debut at the Hero Indian Open six years ago. However, while that did not happen, Bhatia kicked off this year’s campaign with a nervous start. On the opening day, the 24-year-old dropped a 44 on his front nine. Unfortunately, this also resulted in a triple bogey on the 15th. But as time went by, his nerves seemed to settle.
While Bhatia was high on confidence after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he went on to score three birdies on the back nine. This enabled him to end at 5-over 77 after the conclusion of round 1. Unfortunately, hitting the first shot out of bounds, this was not enough for him to make the cut. Getting a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball, Bhatia missed the cut by a shot.
Reflecting on his toil, Bhatia said, “Glad I didn’t shoot 80. This golf course is hard, so if I can get it back to even par, it will be a nice comeback for me. I’ll never give up, and that’s always the goal.”
Thus, despite suffering a setback, the 24-year-old is determined to continue vying for a better season. And fans cannot wait to see the young phenom excel.
