Bhatia wins Arnold Palmer Invitational in playoff. Rahm takes LIV Golf Hong Kong to end drought

By Canadian Press on March 8, 2026.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Arnold Palmer was famous for saying, “You must play boldly to win,” and Akshay Bhatia followed that script Sunday to a stunning comeback and playoff victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Bhatia started his back-nine charge with four straight birdies. He nearly holed his 6-iron that went right at the flag on the par-5 16th to set up eagle. And he outlasted Daniel Berger with a par on the first extra hole to win at Bay Hill.

“You just never know what can happen in this game,” Bhatia said after he closed with a 3-under 69 and won his third PGA Tour title, all of them in playoffs.

This was the biggest, a $20 million signature event that moves the 24-year-old into the top 20 in the world at the start of a big stretch in golf that concludes with the Masters next month.

Berger looked like he had this won, walking confidently after shots in building a four-shot lead at the turn. He lost the lead by missing a 7-foot par putt on the 17th hole and showed plenty of moxie just to get into the playoff with an up-and-down from 70 yards for par on the final hole for a 70.

They finished at 15-under 273, the first playoff at Bay Hill since 1999.

LIV Golf League

HONG KONG (AP) — Jon Rahm of Spain closed with a 6-under 64 to win LIV Golf Hong Kong on Sunday for his first individual title since 2024.

Rahm finished at 23-under 257, three shots ahead of Thomas Detry. The Spaniard hadn’t won a title since LIV Golf Chicago in 2024, though he won the season points title each of the last two years on the Saudi-funded league.

Rahm pulled away with four straight birdies on the back nine and Detry couldn’t keep up. Rahm had a five-shot lead going to the 18th and made bogey while Detry made birdie.

Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC took the team prize.

LPGA Tour

HAINAN ISLAND, China (AP) — Mi Hyang Lee threw away her lead with two double bogeys on the front nine, and then delivered a winner on the final hole Sunday with a lob wedge that hit the pin and set up a tap-in birdie to win the Blue Bay LPGA by one shot.

Lee closed with a 1-over 73 for a one-shot victory over Zhang Weiwei, who shot 69 at Jian Lake Blue Bay but lost the lead with a bogey on the 17th. It was Lee’s third LPGA title, and her first in more than eight years.

The South Korean finished at 11-under 277 for her first win since the 2017 Women’s Scottish Open.

Auston Kim (71) stayed in contention for a LPGA title for the second consecutive week and made three birdies over the last five holes to tie for third with Aditi Ashok (72) of India.

PGA Tour

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico (AP) — Ricky Castillo made back-to-back birdies right after 18-year-old Blades Brown came undone with one bad hole, closing with a 5-under 67 on Sunday to win the Puerto Rico Open for his first PGA Tour title.

Brown, trying to become the youngest PGA Tour winner in 95 years, had a one-shot lead with six holes to play when he went from bunker to water and made triple bogey on the 13th.

Castillo, playing in the final group behind Brown, holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 13th, and then hit a beautiful pitch over the mounds to 5 feet for birdie on the par-4 14th.

Castillo narrowly missed out — by 11 points in the FedEx Cup standings — on getting into the $20 million signature event at Bay Hill this week. The victory in Puerto Rico gets him into the PGA Championship. He already was eligible for The Players Championship next week.

European tour and Sunshine Tour

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Dan Bradbury of England hit a beautiful chip from behind the 18th green to save par Sunday for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot victory in the Joburg Open, his second time winning the tournament and third European tour title.

His clutch par denied Casey Jarvis of South Africa a chance to join Nick Faldo and Seve Ballesteros as the only players in European tour history to win three consecutive tournaments. Jarvis narrowly missed a birdie putt that could have forced a playoff. He shot 66.

Brandon Robinson Thompson was tied for the lead, playing one group ahead of Bradbury, when he three-putted the 18th green from about 45 feet for a bogey that gave him a 66.

Hennie Du Plessis, the 54-hole leader, shot 31 on the front nine but had a pair of bogeys and a double bogey on the back for a 70 to finish fourth.

PGA Tour Champions

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Two-time major champion Zach Johnson turned 50 on Feb. 24 and quickly cashed in Sunday in his PGA Tour Champions debut, closing with a 3-under 69 for a four-shot victory in the James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational.

Johnson made an early bogey and that was his only blemish on the scorecard, adding four birdies to pull away on the Old Course at Broken Sound. He became the 22nd player to win his debut on the 50-and-older circuit. Stewart Cink (70) and George McNeill (72) finished second.

Johnson finished at 11-under 205 and earned $330,000 to move to No. 3 in the Charles Schwab Cup. Cink remains atop the standings.

Korn Ferry Tour

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Doc Redman won the Astara Chile Classic on Sunday for his first Korn Ferry Tour title, closing with a 4-under 67 for a five-stroke victory.

Redman moved to fourth on the season points list, winning in his 52nd tour start. The 2017 U.S. Amateur winner finished at 19-under 265 at Prince of Wales Country Club to match the tournament record set last year by Logan McAllister.

Cooper Dossey (68) and Michael Johnson (69) tied for second. Argentine amateur Segundo Oliva Pinto had a 67 to tie for fourth at 13 under. He tied for seventh last week in the Argentina Open.

Other tours

Isabella Fierro closed with a 5-under 67 to win the Atlantic Beach Classic, the season opener on the Epson Tour. Fierro finished four shots ahead of fellow Mexican player Maria Fassi (65), Kaitlyn Papp Budde (69) and Annabelle Pancake-Webb (72) in a tournament that ended Saturday. … Travis Smyth closed with a 5-under 67 and defeated Jack Thompson (64) with a birdie on the sixth playoff hole to win the ISPS Handa Japan-Australasia Championship at Royal Auckland in New Zealand. … Kelsey Bennett closed with a 1-under 71 in conditions so severe only three players broke par. She won the Australian Women’s Classic by four shots, earning a spot in the Women’s British Open this summer. … Shuri Sakuma closed with a 2-under 70 for a one-shot victory over Kana Nagai in the Daikin Orchid Ladies, the season opener on the Japan LPGA.

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The Associated Press