ORLANDO, Fla. — Scottie Scheffler liked his chances despite teeing off more than two hours and up to 8 shots behind the leaders Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Pollyanna he wasn’t. Neither was Scheffler psychic.
The world’s sixth-ranked player — and everyone still standing after 36 holes — pretty much knew what was coming. Bay Hill was ready to flex its muscles and bully the world’s top golfers.
When the dust settled following the third round of the API, Scheffler found himself two shots back at 5-under-par 211 and in the penultimate pairing with Viktor Hovland (-6).
“I didn’t really feel out of it at the beginning of the day,” Scheffler said following a 4-under 68 that tied Chris Kirk for the day’s low round.
Scheffler’s sentiment was spreading by the time the final golfers exited the the course battered by whipping winds, stifled by meaty rough and frustrated by crusty putting surfaces.
Talor Gooch and Billy Horschel were tied for the lead at 7-under-par 209 following a two-shot swing on the par-4 18th.
Playing a group ahead, Horschel sank a birdie putt from the fringe and just inside 30 feet for a scrappy 71 — the only under-par score among the last eight pairings. Gooch followed with a bogey that began when his drive found ankle-deep rough to force a layup 50 yards short of the green — a scenario that played out repeatedly among the 78 players who made the weekend.
“It’s going to expose any weak shot, plain and simple,” Gooch said of Bay Hill.
The conditions opened the door for a host of players, such as Scheffler, and created endless possibilities for Sunday’s final round.
“If you’re under par, you’ve got a chance,” said Gooch, a 30-year-old seeking his third PGA Tour win.
If Gooch is correct, the 16 players sitting 1-under or better remain in the hunt.
Few would argue, least of all Hovland in addition to two former API winners — Rory McIlroy (2018) and Tyrrell Hatton (2020).
Hovland opened with consecutive bogeys to erase his two-shot advantage through 36 holes but ignited his round with a hole-out for eagle from a bunker right of the par-5 6th hole. Armed with a four-shot advantage at the turn, Hovland eventually closed his day with back-to-back bogeys for a back-nine 40 and a 75 on the day.
Meanwhile, McIlroy and Hatton were a combined 10-over-par.
McIlroy, who finished with 4-over 76, carded three birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey during an exasperating closing nine holes. The former world No. 1 closed the door to the scorer’s area forcefully and frustratingly before addressing reporters.
“It’s so tough out there,” McIlroy said. “It’s so tricky. It’s just on a knife edge.”
Living on the edge has its appeal to some.
“This is awesome golf,” Horschel said. “It’s testing and it wears you down. But this is the golf that ... I can’t even say we all enjoy all the time, but we do enjoy because it does fairly reward good golf shots.”
Gooch said a brutal day at Bay Hill is a refreshing change from the Tour’s weekly setups favoring low scores.
“We all love it,” he said. “It’s a grind, but I kind of think we don’t get this enough on the PGA Tour. That’s part of why we like it when we do get it. It’s nice to not have a week of a birdie fest.”
Birdies will be hard to come by Sunday, and certainly will be accompanied by bogeys — or worse.
Bay Hill is fewer than four miles from Universal Orlando, but the site of the wildest roller-coaster in the area Saturday was Palmer’s 7,290-yard layout.
Consider the highs and lows of Scheffler’s round. A first-time winner last month in Phoenix, Scheffler bogeyed three consecutive holes to close his front-nine but made three birdies and an eagle during a back-nine 31.
Asked to describe the challenge, the plain-spoken 25-year-old Texan replied, “I would say the closest thing would be the U.S. Open.”
Two U.S. Open winners, Gary Woodland (-4) and Graeme McDowell (-3), are among the group within reasonable striking range. Each won his title at Pebble Beach.
Bay Hill would lose a beauty contest to the iconic, scenic gem nearly 2,800 miles away on Monterey Peninsula. In a boxing match, Palmer’s baby would would be the last one standing.
Sunday’s winner will be the golfer who can take Bay Hill’s best punch without flinching.
“The golf course is brutal hard,” said Woodland, a former Orlando resident. “I don’t see anybody running away with it. You’re not going to have to do anything fancy. You’re just going to have to control your golf ball all day.”
