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The Hero World Challenge will end in celebration. At least for Akshay Bhatia. He is set to get married the week after in paradise itself, and even if he finishes last in the 20-man field, he has assured a $150K check, with no cut. Bhatia proposed to his longtime partner, Presleigh Schultz, in September 2023. Now, the gown and the tux are ready, but the golfer’s suit is the only planning he did, along with one other crucial thing.

“Yeah, I didn’t really do much planning,” he said in the post-round presser. “…I got my tux and got it fitted, and that’s about it,” Bhatia shared at the post-match presser. Now we know who the planner is in their relationship. When the media asked if Bhatia helped plan the wedding with his checkbook, the answer was affirmative.

The wedding is reportedly scheduled for December 13. That is six days after the event concludes. For Bhatia, who is making his second appearance at the Hero World Challenge, this is a full-circle moment. Schultz caddied for him early on in their relationship at this very place. It was 2022, and Akshay Bhatia was competing in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Bahamas Great Exuma Classic. In the end, he went home with a trophy and a lifetime worth of memories.

Their story is as Gen-Z as it could get.

A year before this romantic golfer-caddie stint, Bhatia had reached out to Schultz by sliding in her DMs. Back then, she “had no idea what golf was.” But the universe has weird ways of turning things out. Two years later, when Bhatia won the 2023 Barracuda Championship, he praised Presleigh.

“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,” Akshay Bhatia said. Then, a few months later, he got down on one knee at a vineyard in Napa Valley and asked for Schultz’s hand. He was in his classic Callaway Cap as he put the ring on her finger.

Similar to Bhatia, Patrick Cantlay also married just a day after the Rome Ryder Cup in 2023. The US had suffered a massive defeat, but in the end, they got to have the wedding cake. For Cantlay, it was a “convenient destination wedding” since all his friends were already in the city.

The same goes for Bhatia. He might have to fly some of his friends over, but for now, his focus is solely on the coveted trophy, as golf, for him, should never take a backseat.

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Akshay Bhatia eyes 2026 with a sharper mind, despite wedding vows

As Akshay Bhatia marks the end of his season (and start of his marital bliss), he has made one thing clear: the going for him never stops. Still a month away from the PGA Tour’s year starter at the Sony Open, Bhatia has a plan in his mind.

“I know a lot of guys that like to have full-time off,” he said in the presser, “but for me right now I still enjoy practicing every day.”

“So going into ’26 it’s more so how can I get each week.. Really just give 100 percent and not really worry about the outside noise,” Bhatia further explained.

The motto is simple for him. He is still very young, younger than most in the course in the Bahamas. Hence, it wouldn’t make much sense for him to take time off to enjoy his “honeymoon period.” For that, he has his entire life left. With the PGA Tour making several significant changes in the future, like a 100-player field and probably the scaling down of events, every single contention holds value.

And perhaps for the same reason, he has hired a new full-time caddie.

“Joe [Greiner]…has a nice idea — winning on tough golf courses and working with some of the best players in the world,” Bhatia says. “To…help me understand…what can happen out here…which can be a grind and not fun.”

Whatever Greiner is thinking, he is on the right track, mainly because a similar stance has been put forth by Scottie Scheffler. If the world’s best player can worry about such things, so should 43rd-ranked Bhatia.

Bhatia sits atop the leaderboard in a 6-way tie after R1, with 6-under on the scorecard. His Thursday saw a bogey-free 66, and has helped him set momentum for the coming 3 days. If Bhatia wins, he earns a massive $1 million prize.