Scheffler sits atop 1 tough Hill
ORLANDO — Scottie Scheffler isn’t sure he won the Arnold Palmer Invite as much as he survived it.
Over the final four holes Sunday at Bay Hill, he had to get up-anddown from 149 yards in rough covering the tops of his shoes, and from 67 yards over the water to a back pin on the third-easiest hole.
The two conventional pars that followed were just as scary, one from 45 feet and the other from 70 feet, on greens with barely enough grass to keep the ball from sliding, knowing a gust could send the ball an extra 8 feet.
Scheffler answered every challenge. He closed with a bogey-free back nine at Bay Hill and an evenpar 72 for a one-shot victory, his second on the PGA Tour in a month. He moved to No. 5 in the world.
“To be completely honest with you, right now I’m exhausted,” Scheffler said. “This course is a total beatdown trying to play. I’m very pleased I didn’t have to play any extra holes.”
Viktor Hovland (74) missed an 18-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th. Billy Horschel (75) missed a 30-foot birdie in the final group, both trying to force a playoff. They finished one shot behind, along with Tyrrell Hatton, who shot a 69 and finished an hour earlier.
Scheffler didn’t win the U.S. Open. It just felt like one.
“I feel punch drunk, to be honest,” Rory McIlroy said after a 76-76 weekend. “It’s like crazy golf. You just don’t get rewarded for good shots . ... The way the conditions are, it makes you feel as if you’re not playing as good as you are.”
Only a few birdies on the par-5 16th and pars on the 18th kept this from being the toughest final round at Bay Hill in four decades. The average score was still 75.48. Six players shot 80 or higher and only four players broke par.
Gary Woodland had as good a chance as anyone until he took two shots to get out of a tough lie in the bunker and made double bogey on the par-3 17th, and then finished with a bogey. He was two shots behind.
“I’m glad I’m off that golf course,” Woodland said. “Frustrating. I played a lot better than the score showed. I can take a lot of positives, but it stings right now.”
Scheffler now has two PGA Tour titles in his last three starts, having picked up his first victory at the Phoenix Open. That one was loud, and he had to make birdies to stay in the mix. This one was stressful, and no less rewarding. Outside of the par 5s, “you’re trying to just make a par on every other hole,” Scheffler said.