You’d think if you entered the final round with a four-stroke lead, and then proceeded to shoot a 5-under 67, you’d cruise to victory right? Well, for Akshay Bhatia he did just that, but his victory was anything but smooth sailing. Bhatia entered the 12th hole in the final round with a six-stroke lead, comfortably in the driver’s seat en route to his 2nd PGA Tour victory, but then Denny McCarthy caught fire. McCarthy closed his round with 7 straight birdies, forcing Bhatia to birdie the 18th and final hole just to force a playoff. Bhatia answered McCarthy’s birdie on 18 with one of his own, and then would birdie 18 again in the playoff, helping him secure his 2nd PGA Tour victory. 

Bhatia is a Callaway staffer, and for a bag completely made up of Callaway clubs, Bhatia’s is rather unique with a mix of generations and interesting clubs throughout the bag. 

All WITB info courtesy of GolfWRX.

Driver: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS (9 degrees)

Bhatia starts off his bag by going back a couple of generations for his driver, playing the Callaway Rogue ST Max LS. He games it at 9 degrees with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X shaft in it. The 22-year-old was dominant with this club, finishing 8th in driving distance, averaging just over 317 yards off the tee. He was decently accurate with the big stick too, finishing 43rd in the field in driving accuracy at 50.88 percent. That combination helped Bhatia to a 6th place finish in Strokes Gained Off the Tee.

Fairway Wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (3-Wood)

Moving to his fairway wood where Bhatia opts for Callaway’s newest release, playing a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max at 15 degrees with a Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X shaft in it. Bhatia goes with a lower-spinning, lower-launching option off the tee, and then switches it up for his fairway wood with a more forgiving, higher-launching option. That’s not uncommon by any means as players want something they can hit far, but also something they can get to stop on the green when attacking par 5s in two.

Utility Wood: Callaway Apex UW (19 Degrees)

While a hybrid blends the performances of irons and fairway woods, the Callaway Apex Utility Wood lives in the zone between a fairway wood and a hybrid and finds its way into Akshay Bhatia’s bag. It provides him another option to use from longer distances, and even another option off the tee, if needed. The UW’s compact, workable shape provides more shotmaking potential, while its A.I. Batwing structure creates more ball speed, two things that serve Bhatia well.

Irons: Callaway X Forged UT (21 degrees), Callaway Apex TCB Raw (5-PW)

For his irons Bhatia combos some Callaway Apex TCB Raws (5-PW) with a 21 degree Callaway X Forged UT. It’s not very common to see a PGA Tour player with a fairway wood, a utility wood, and a utility iron in their bag, with Danny Willet and JJ Spaun in 2023 being the only two we know of to rock this combo recently. Then add in Callaway Apex TCB irons with the raw finish, and it further adds to Bhatia’s unique bag. Clearly, his setup works, not just because he won, but because his approach game was unbelievably good in his victory. He led the field in Strokes Gained Approach to Green, gaining 8.225 strokes on the field, and led the tournament in Greens in Regulation percentage, hitting over 75 of the greens in regulation, including the 18th twice on Sunday, once in regulation and again in the playoff. Any player that’s giving themself a look for birdie or better on three-quarters of the holes they play will likely find themselves near the top of the leaderboard.

Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (50-10S @49, 54-10S, 60-08C @61)

Bhatia keeps his wedge setup consistent, playing Callaway Jaws Raw wedges for his gap, sand, and lob wedge. Obviously, with his distance, he had a wedge in his hand often when approaching the green, and these wedges played a key part in Bhatia’s insane approach game this week including both times he played 18, where he fired a couple of darts into the green, setting up the birdie putt to force the playoff, and the birdie putt to win the tournament. But when he did miss the green, he was lethal with the wedges as well, converting 14 of his 18 scramble opportunities, which was 8th best in the field, and that included getting up and down from the bunker on 5 of his 8 tries.

Finally, we get to Bhatia’s putter, and guess what, it’s a unique setup as well. He plays the Odyssey Jailbird Versa 380, slightly heavier than the original Jailbird Versa. Playing this Tour Trending putter isn’t what makes it unique, but the setup he has. Whereas players like Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark and Keegan Bradley played the Jailbird Versa in a counterbalance setup, Bhatia played it with a Broomstick setup, and guess what, it worked. His birdie putts on 18, both to get into the playoff, and to win will stand out, but Bhatia’s putting was solid throughout the tournament, as he finished 24th in Strokes Gained Putting, gaining 2.376 strokes on the field from the putting surface.