Akshay Bhatia has turned down a significant offer to join LIV Golf, according to Golf Channel. Bhatia is the latest PGA Tour player that the league, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, has attempted to poach as it gears up for its 2026 season set to kick off next month.
Bhatia would have been the biggest name to sign with LIV Golf amid an offseason that largely missed the ball. Min Woo Lee, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim were all international players LIV Golf unsuccessfully recruited with each taking to social media to confirm they will be playing on the PGA Tour in 2026.
The 24-year-old Bhatia has been a full-time PGA Tour member since 2023. During his time with the tour, the wiry left-hander has racked up two victories and finished T3 at last year’s Players Championship, just a couple of strokes outside of a playoff. By all accounts, Bhatia is a star in the making. He is expected to compete for spots on future U.S. Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams.
In addition to being stiff-armed at the recruitment level, LIV Golf lost one of its biggest stars as Brooks Koepka parted ways with the league, announcing in December that he will be focusing on his family in 2026 with many believing a return to the PGA Tour is imminent once a pathway is cleared.
Koepka won five times on LIV Golf since 2023 and was the first player from the circuit to reign supreme on the major stage when he claimed the 2023 PGA Championship.
In the place of Koepka, Talor Gooch has stepped up as captain of Smash GC. Harold Varner III will reportedly join the team as Thomas Detry and Elvis Smylie enter the league. Detry finished inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings in 2025 thanks to his win at the WM Phoenix Open, while Smylie is an exciting young talent from Australia who won the Australian PGA Championship at the end of 2024.
Other LIV Golf newcomers include Victor Perez and Laurie Canter, who earned a PGA Tour card for the 2026 season by finishing inside the top 10 of the Race to Dubai on the DP World Tour. Instead of trying his hand on the PGA Tour, though, the Englishman ultimately decided to return to LIV Golf where he primarily played in 2023.