World’s best golfers brace for brutish Bay Hill course
Xander Schauffele doesn’t recall the particulars of his sole appearance in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Three years later, he certainly hasn’t forgotten the golf course — just like every player who’s teed it up lately at Bay Hill Club & Lodge.
The layout Palmer designed and tweaked until his 2016 death leaves a lasting impression and some scar tissue.
“It’s just a really hard property,” Schauffele said. “The level of difficulty they’re putting up here is real.”
Things are going to get real today when the tournament’s best field in decades tackles the brutish 7,466-yard, par-72 track. Bay Hill will test every facet of the game and chip away at the patience and attitude of every golfer in the 120-player field.
The past six APIs produced scoring averages over par. Some years are more brutal than others.
Palmer aimed to present a fair, unforgiving test, but conditions recently have bordered on coldblooded.
Tyrrell Hatton won the most devilish API in 2020 at 4-under 284 total, the highest winning score in the event’s 44 years at Bay Hill. In 2022, scoring eased up enough for Scottie Scheffler to prevail at 5-under 283.
“I’ve spoken a little bit about liking the harder golf courses out here and that’s definitely what this place is,” Scheffler said Wednesday.
No regular PGA Tour stop plays more difficultly.
Bay Hill’s scoring average of 1.886 strokes over par in 2022 ranked behind just the U.S. Open, PGA Championship and the Masters. In 2020, the APIs plus-2.106 average was the highest during any tournament.
That year, Schauffele tied for 24th without breaking par for four rounds. With hot and windy conditions the first three days, the world’s sixthranked player see more bogeys on the horizon.
“It’s always very difficult,” he said. “The forecast shows a very windy Friday, so it’s very much an execution-style golf course.”
Schauffele’s word choice was apropos, if unintended. But golfers off their game will have nowhere to hide.
Unlike many Tour stops, Bay Hill forces mid- to long-iron approach shots in a modern game often relegated to driver-wedge contests. Four par-3s averaging 261 yards and three long, but reachable par-5s require the world’s best to showcase their ball-striking genius with the longer clubs.
Last week’s Honda Classic winner Chris Kirk said the set-up favors him.
“Iron play, wedge play is definitely my best strength as a golfer,” he said. “It plays into my hands a little bit with it being a very strenuous second-shot golf course.”
Tee shots are no picnic, either. Miss the fairway and welcome to gnarly 4-inch rough, with an added twist.
“They started mowing the grass — this is new for me — towards tee boxes, which is just absolutely horrendous,” Schauffele said.
Golfers who miss the fairway need to take their medicine to get back into play rather than compound their problems with a hero shot.
Rock-hard putting surfaces present the next challenge.
“You can like drop a ball on the green and you can hear it pop up,” PGA Tour rookie Justin Suh said. “It’s firm.”
Holding the green with approach shots prevents players from attacking pins. Two-putting from long distances can wear on a golfer.
Given the skill and nerve required at Bay Hill, world No. 1 Jon Rahm, who will play his second API, sees why Tiger Woods won the event a record eight times.
“I learned why Tiger has had such success here,” he said. “It’s a ball-striker’s golf course. Obviously, like everywhere else, you have to be good on the greens.”
Bay Hill also favors a left-to-right ball flight that Woods and Rahm rely on. The 27-year-old Spaniard has won twice at Torrey Pines, once at Memorial and now hopes to add another win at a course Woods’ dominated.
“I’ve been able to do well on most of ‘em,” he said.
Meanwhile, McIlroy seeks his second win in Palmer’s tournament.
In 2022, he opened with 7-under 65, faded on Friday and collapsed during the weekend. Following a third-round 76, the ever-popular Irishmen criticized the course.
On Wednesday, McIlroy’s stance softened as have the conditions at Bay Hill. Low scores could be an option again.
“It feels like a really good shot will hold. You’ll be able to hold the fairways a little bit more,” he said. “It might not be as penal. It will still be penal because the rough’s thick. Good shots will hopefully get rewarded a little more.”
Bay Hill also has a reputation to uphold and an identity golfers and fans have come to expect.
“There’s danger lurking everywhere,” world No. 8 Max Homa said. “It’s good that we have an event like this. As much as it tests your physical skills it tests your mental skills.”