You’d think that 2x PGA Tour winner Akshay Bhatia would want to play for his big brother Phil Mickelson’s team, but no! He’s onto achieving his bigger goals.

As per the latest reports, the 23-year-old has rejected a large offer to join Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers GC. The news comes when several first-choice targets that LIV Golf have tried to recruit during the off-season, such as Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im, have fallen through.

Phil Mickelson has been like a “big brother” to Bhatia. Mickelson invited the young golfer on his private jet when he was 17, and that is when the two started bonding. Bhatia found the 6x major winner to be just a positive, normal guy who is always joking around and is also a good storyteller. Mickelson took Bhatia under his wing and helped him. The 2x Tour winner was glad to have someone like Lefty in his corner, helping him grow.

Mickelson even shared his secret 2003 yardage book notes to help Bhatia at Augusta. They spent countless hours practicing, and the mentorship was so deep that Bhatia once called Mickelson’s advice a “cheat code” for success. The veteran has also been publicly effusive about Bhatia’s potential. At the Masters in 2024, Lefty made it clear that he thinks that Bhatia’s best path is steady refinement rather than reinvention. The 6x major winner has a lot of respect for Bhatia and has the foresight to make a really tough and right decision.

One might wonder why Bhatia would not want to play with Lefty, given their relationship.

Well, Bhatia’s own journey helps explain the choice. He turned pro at 17, bypassing college golf and carving his own route through mini-tours, the Korn Ferry circuit, and eventually onto the PGA Tour: a path he has often described as unusually direct and demanding. And before winning the 2024 Valero Texas Open, he made his ultimate long-term goals very clear.

“I didn’t grow up playing on the PGA TOUR necessarily to win just PGA TOUR events; I grew up playing and dreaming of winning majors. That’s kind of my main focus for the years to come,” Bhatia said then during a third-round interview at the 2024 Valero Texas Open (which he went on to win).

The desire to protect his route to the golf’s biggest stages, and the world ranking points which LIV does not have right now, helps explain why a lucrative LIV offer would not be an automatic yes for him.

Without Bhatia, the HyFlyers GC squad currently relies on veterans like Brendan Steele, Cameron Tringale, and Mickelson himself. They desperately needed a fresh face after Andy Ogletree was relegated following a poor 2025. Ogletree finished 50th in the standings and lost his spot.

Bhatia could be a great addition in Ogletree’s place, and he is the exact talent that the Saudi-backed league craves right now. At just twenty-three, he already owns two PGA Tour trophies and currently holds the 46th spot in the Official World Golf Rankings. Bhatia also qualified for the Tour Championship in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

Now, Bhatia has signed as TGL’s Jupiter Links’ alternate. Alongside Bhatia, many other stars are also saying ‘no’ to LIV’s big money.

In the past, golfers like Ludvig Aberg, Tony Finau, and Viktor Hovland also chose to skip the rebel league’s cash. Even Hideki Matsuyama rejected a major deal from LIV. The list of players rejecting the Saudi-backed offers continues to grow, and it makes you wonder, why?

Why is history defeating  LIV Golf money now?

Two years ago, players took the chance to join LIV, but the calculation, now, has changed drastically. Players are choosing legacy because LIV Golf lacks important world ranking points. Without these points, golfers cannot qualify for the four major championships. Plus, their global travel schedule is also burning out many top professional golfers. Brooks Koepka recently shocked the fandom by leaving the league in December 2025, for that very reason. Other players like Kevin Na and Pat Perez have also shown signs of wanting to leave lately.

Choosing to stay on the traditional Tour now brings something that money cannot buy. Veteran Michael Kim praised Bhatia’s choice, saying it earns him massive respect in the locker room, and this public validation proves that legacy is becoming the most valuable currency in professional golf.

But it’s not all gloom and doom for LIV.

Some players are still fighting to get into the rebel league. Belgian star Thomas Detry, reportedly, is set to join the 4Aces team, and Aussie young gun Elvis Smylie is also close to signing with the Ripper GC. Detry is the first player from Belgium to win on the PGA Tour and bring fresh energy to the Tour. Some players are even risking their entire careers to join the Saudi-based circuit. Miguel Tabuena chose the LIV qualifiers over the traditional PGA Tour path. Laurie Canter earned his PGA Tour card but opted to play on LIV.

The battle for golf’s true soul is reaching a very intense new level lately. Phil Mickelson lost his protégé, but the game continues to move forward.