Akshay Bhatia has withdrawn from the Valspar Championship. The move came as a surprise after his recent win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. However, he wasn't alone.

He is the sixth player to pull out of the $9.1 million tournament. With just a few hours left for the 2026 Valspar Championship, Bhatia became the sixth player to withdraw on Wednesday.

Bhatia joined Max Greyserman, William Mouw, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Robert MacIntyre, and Keith Mitchell. Alternate Sam Ryder stepped in after his withdrawal.

The withdrawal came as a surprise since Bhatia has had a good start to the 2026 season. He finished T13 at THE PLAYERS Championship, won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and even performed well at the TGL practice rounds. 

While Akshay Bhatia didn't clarify why, withdrrew the fans are guessing he could have been facing an injury. Nevertheless, this could end up as a well-needed rest ahead of his third start in the Masters Tournament.

Valspar Championship Fills In the Gap That Akshay Bhatia and Others Left Behind

Even though six players walked out of the roster, six others have filled in their spots at the 2026 Valspar Championship. The new entries include Dough Ghim, Andrew Putnam, Kris Ventura, Justin Lower, Joel Dahmen, and, of course, Sam Ryder. 

Brooks Koepka is also competing. "With Brooks Koepka in the field via the Returning Member Program, the 133-player field was expanded to 135 players to round out threesomes with the first two alternates added to the field: Seamus Power IN, Matt Kuchar IN," the official PGA Tour page posted on X.

Seamus Power and Matt Kuchar entered the roster to expand the 133-player field to 135 players. Meanwhile, Henrik Norlander entered the field through a sponsor exemption. 

So how did you react to Akshay Bhatia and the rest of the pros pulling out? Give us your take in the comments section.

Follow Club Golf for more updates.

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi