Winning the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational was not an easy task. Until the very end, it seemed like Daniel Berger was running away with the title. But Akshay Bhatia pulled off a blinder to claim the $20 million Signature event in the end. And Bhatia’s caddie discussed his mindset going into Championship Sunday in the latest episode of Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio.

Joe Greiner told the hosts, “The whole back nine, I was telling him, ‘You’ve got to play pissed off, dude. Keep playing pissed off with a chip on your shoulder.’ I felt like it helped his focus.”

After scoring three bogeys in the front 9, Bhatia had pushed himself out of contention. However, he was a completely different player in the back 9. The 24-year-old scored four consecutive birdies from 10th to 13th to force himself back into the picture. He also had an eagle on the par-5 16th hole.

That was enough for Bhatia to get back into contention for the title. But it wasn’t just his excellent play that helped him tie the score with Berger.

The 32-year-old also made a few mistakes along the way to lose the title. He closed the regulation 72 holes with a bogey on the 17th hole. That forced the tournament into a playoff between Berger and Bhatia.

That is all the opportunity the 24-year-old needed to win the title. Bhatia held a record of 2-0 in the playoffs before the Signature event. It didn’t take him long to finish off Berger. An even par on the 18th hole in the playoffs was enough to give him the title. With that, he also maintained his undefeated streak in the playoffs. After his triumph, Bhatia also dedicated his win to his late niece.

Playing ‘pissed off’ certainly paid off. In the process, Bhatia also ended up breaking a few records.

Akshay Bhatia leaves no room to breathe for Daniel Berger

It wasn’t just Akshay Bhatia’s last-ditch effort that helped him win the title. He displayed impeccable consistency throughout the tournament. And the 24-year-old ended up breaking a few records because of that.

The first one was that he had the most strokes gained on the green throughout the tournament. Bhatia averaged 16.3 strokes gained through putting. The previous record of 15 was held by Patrick Reed.

His strokes gained around the green and while putting were also quite impressive. He was the first player to achieve the feat after Tiger Woods in 2009.

Lastly, while he may have fought till the very end, stats show that Bhatia was far more dominant than Daniel Berger. He had the most strokes gained on the green at Bay Hill since 2009.