Scottie Scheffler is very much in the mix after the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational after posting a score of one under par on Thursday at Bay Hill.
Bay Hill certainly managed to dent the confidence of a number of players during the opening day at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Both Cameron Young and Max Homa failed to break 80, while there is already a large group of players sat on seven over par for the tournament. Any concerns of this event going the same way as the Cognizant Classic at PGA National last week have been put to bed in emphatic fashion.
Scottie Scheffler finds himself just outside the top 10 after posting a 71. It was a fairly unspectacular round for the two-time winner, with three birdies and two bogeys. And he is the name that the likes of Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark will probably be most worried about.
Scottie Scheffler explains what was so challenging about Bay Hill on day one of the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Scheffler knows what it takes to win around Bay Hill, having won in both 2022 and 2024. Nevertheless, it seems that even he was slightly surprised by how the course was playing in certain areas.
Speaking after his first round, Scheffler explained what fans watching at home may not realise about the difficulty of the Florida course.
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
“I would say one of the things that’s interesting that you may not see on TV is what is so challenging is if you’re trying to run the ball up, a lot of the fairways are really soft but the greens are like concrete so it can be really challenging to get the ball close to the hole, especially if you’re not coming from out of the fairway,” he said.
“I think of the shot I hit, I drove it in the rough on maybe five, and I landed it exactly where I wanted to, and the ball just lands and just doesn’t release at all. And if I landed it another couple of yards and it lands on the green, it’s probably over the green. It’s just one of those things that you’ve got to stay patient on the golf course. It’s really hard and there’s a lot of stuff that can frustrate you out there, but just try and stay in it.”
Scheffler’s worst opening round at Bay Hill across his career
Interestingly, it was Scheffler’s worst score in the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational across his career. He had never previously shot worse than 70 on Thursday.
The last three years have seen some correlation between his scores on day one and day three, as well as day two and day four. For example, in 2024, he shot 70 on Thursday and Saturday, while finding a 67 in the second round and a 66 on Sunday.
So perhaps fans will get a very good idea of what to expect from Scheffler over the weekend once he has reached the halfway stage. Of course, as it is Scheffler, it would be no surprise to see him find another gear as others start to move backwards.
