PGA Tour star Akshay Bhatia to follow Hero with Bahamas wedding

AI-assisted summary
• Akshay Bhatia is getting married in the Bahamas next week after competing in the Hero World Challenge.
• Bhatia is guaranteed at least $150,000 in prize money from the tournament, which he joked will help pay for the wedding.
• His fiancée, Presleigh Schultz, previously caddied for him when he won his first notable professional tournament in the Bahamas in 2022.
• Bhatia shot a bogey-free 66 in the first round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany.

NASSAU, Bahamas — Akshay Bhatia may not be the best golfer in the world — yet — but he’s rising up the Strokes Gained: Clever list.

Never heard of that statistical category? Well, if there were such a thing, Bhatia would be climbing and for good reason. Here’s the short version on why: Bhatia, who fired a bogey-free 66 on Thursday at Albany in the first round of the Hero World Challenge, is getting married next week – here in the Bahamas. Smart guy. He’s just going to hang out in paradise until the big day and he’s guaranteed $150,000, the last-place check this week, which isn’t too shabby, and should go a long way to paying for the party. 

“Yeah, I didn't really do much planning,” he admitted. “I pretty much just helped with, you know, I got my tux and got it fitted and that's about it.”

And the checkbook, he was asked. “Yeah, that’s true,” he said.

Bhatia, 23, could earn as much as $1 million if he wins this week. The Bahamas is a fitting place for him to tie the knot with Presleigh Schultz, who caddied for the lefty when he won his first professional tournament of note, the 2022 Bahamas Great Exuma Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Bhatia is playing in the Hero World Challenge for the second straight year. He was a sponsor’s invite this time — being a Hero ambassador and of Indian descent does have its benefits.

When Bhatia won the 2023 Barracuda Championship, he said of his fiancée, “She’s been through it all with me. You know, I couldn’t imagine my life without her. I couldn’t imagine being on this journey without her by my side.”