Akshay Bhatia rallies to claim Arnold Palmer Invitational title after play-off

[p]A gripping final-day duel at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando ended with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bhatia-akshay/hO3IOL5C/"]Bhatia[/a] pocketing the third PGA Tour title of his career - all via play-offs - on the first sudden-death hole.[/p][p]Bhatia finished with a closing three-under-par 69 to finish tied on 15 under alongside [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/berger-daniel/vNKbvcSM/"]Berger[/a], who shot a final-round two-under-par 70 for an aggregate 273.[/p][p][b]The 24-year-old Bhatia had forced the play-off with an electrifying birdie spree over the back nine after trailing Berger by four shots at the turn.[/b][/p][p]Bhatia had drifted off the pace with a bogey five on the par-four ninth, but responded to that setback with a brilliant run of four straight birdies to slice into Berger's lead.[/p][p]The highlight of that charge was a superb 57-foot birdie putt on the 11th, which he followed with birdies on the 12th and 13th.[/p][embed guid="8eefd6ad-754a-4073-8a6e-b1e7ac474da0" url="https://x.com/i/status/2030742785494597819" social-type="twitter" /][p]Berger's lead shrank to one shot after a bogey on the 13th, but he increased his lead to two strokes with three holes to play after Bhatia bogeyed the 15th.[/p][p]Once again, though, Bhatia conjured a response, this time with an eagle three on the par-five 16th, when he drilled his second shot to just under four feet for a simple tap-in.[/p][p]Berger responded with a birdie and remained one shot clear with two to play, but his advantage evaporated with a bogey on 17 to leave it all square going to the last.[/p][p][b]A pair of pars sent it to a play-off and Bhatia immediately seized the initiative, following up a perfect tee shot to the middle of the fairway with a second to the centre of the green.[/b][/p][p]Berger subsequently three-putted for bogey while Bhatia coolly completed a par to seal victory.[/p][embed guid="216021b0-820a-4406-a03b-28681c269aac" url="https://x.com/i/status/2030774180430397841" social-type="twitter" /][p]Bhatia said his bogey on the ninth had been the catalyst for his charge after the turn.[/p][p][b]"I missed that putt on nine, that was just a lack of focus. And then I just played with some anger for those couple holes," [/b]he said.[/p][p][b]"The putt on 11 was a huge bonus for me. That really switched my momentum.[/b][/p][p][b]"Daniel played amazing. This game is so crazy, it's been crazy for these last couple weeks ... you just never know what can happen in this game,"[/b] he added.[/p][p]Berger, who had been chasing a wire-to-wire victory after leading after each of the opening three rounds, took positives from his late defeat.[/p][p][b]"I'm proud of myself," [/b]he said. [b]"Obviously it didn't go the way I wanted it to, but at the start of the week if you told me I would have a chance on the 18th hole to win Bay Hill, I would be ecstatic with that.[/b][/p][p][b]"So a lot of positives, a lot of things to learn from."[/b][/p][p]Sweden’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/aberg-ludvig/67ZVNhdN/"]Ludvig Aberg[/a] finished tied for third alongside [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/young-cameron/WAjf7EFq/"]Cameron Young[/a], three shots behind Bhatia and Berger on 12 under.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/morikawa-collin/0UlRrMgE/"]Collin Morikawa[/a] was fifth on 11 under after a closing 70, while [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/theegala-sahith/WQd3jNo0/"]Shaith Theegala[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henley-russell/4xlMJb5S/"]Russell Henley[/a] and Australia’s [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lee-min-woo/IwMMLluD/"]Min Woo Lee[/a] were a further shot back on 10 under in a tie for sixth.[/p]