Scottie Survives — Scheffler Rises Above The Mayhem At AP Invitational

It’s called the Arnold Palmer Invitational and on Sunday, Arnie’s Bay Hill Club turned mean, vicious and U.S. Open tough.  Contenders rose and fell all afternoon, and in the end, it was a major talent — Scottie Scheffler — who was good enough to be the last man standing.

With winds whipping steady for the final 36-holes in the 12-to-15 mile-per-hour range, the championship started by the man known to the golf world as “The King,” turned into a Survival Of The Fittest weekend and it was Scheffler making brilliant par saves over three of his final four holes who proved better than the rest.

Scheffler donned the red Arnold Palmer cardigan and now has two wins in his last three starts and his enormous talent is showing.  It showed down the stretch as no less than five other players had a shot to win this special event.

Gary Woodland, playing a hole in front of Scheffler and Viktor Hovland, the final pairing, looked like he was the man to beat.  The conditions suited his game.  He won the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach but hadn’t won since.  But his game is returning.  It showed at the short par five 16th where he lost his tee shot to the right then hit a brilliant second from a sandy waste area, up and over the trees and onto the green, leaving himself just 26 feet for eagle.  He rolled that eagle in and jumped to six-under for the tournament.  He was a par-par finish from victory.

But disaster struck at the 17th.  It was though that mayhem guy from the insurance commercials paid him a visit.  His tee shot nearly buried in the front bunker but the ball came out of its pitch mark, leaving him a great shot at saving par.  Inexplicably, he chunked it and the ball failed to get out of the sand.  His third left him six feet for bogey and he missed that.  The double dropped him back to four-under.  A closing bogey ended his hopes.

Behind him, Scheffler was in trouble at the 15th.  He pulled his tee shot behind trees in the rough, his second only went 25 yards, into the deep rough.  His third left him 25 feet for par and he made it for an incredible save to stay at five-under.  His playing partner, Viktor Hovland, had a sloppy three-putt bogey and put himself behind the eight-ball.

Sheffler was in all kinds of trouble off the tee at 16 but managed to get his fourth from short of the water in the fairway, within six feet.  He made that par-saving putt while Hovland two-putted for birdie to tie Scheffler at five-under.

Tyrrell Hatton was in the clubhouse at four-under while Sheffler and Hovland faced the two tough closing holes.  Scheffler survived them, Hovland didn’t.

Hovland hit an awful tee shot at 17, wide right into a bunker and took yet another bogey while Shefller safely two-putted for par.

It all came down to 18 for Sheffler.  He once again missed the fairway left with his tee shot but hit a gem of a second that found the green, albeit nearly 70 feet from the hole.  Hovland’s second left him on the fringe with 17 feet for a birdie that would put him at five-under.  Scheffler then hit an incredible lag putt that came up just four inches short of the cup.  He wasted no time tapping it in then watched Hovland miss yet another putt to tie him.  It wasn’t Viktor’s day with the flat stick.

There was still one threat to Scheffler out there.  Billy Horshel was four-under and in perfect position in the 18th fairway.  His second gave him a shot at tying Scheffler but his birdie effort from 29 feet was never high enough and missed low left.

The madness was over and Scheffler showed why he’s No. 6 in the world and destined to move higher, perhaps to No. 5 this week.

It was a struggle at best for some of the world’s best.  No. 1 Jon Rahm finished two-over with rounds of 74-74 over the weekend.  No. 4 Hovland shot 75-74.  No. 5 Rory McIlroy shot 76-76.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Scheffler shot 68 on Saturday when the winds blew stronger than Sunday.  His final round was a sweet 72 — probably felt like 66.

Scheffler’s also been bolstered by his new caddie partnership.  When Bubba Watson parted ways with Teddy Scott, Scheffler gave Scott a call.

Great decision.

“I trusted myself and Teddy,” Scheffler said after the win.  “I kept grinding (all day).  I’ve been playing some good golf the last few years.  I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.”

He should.

Scheffler is the only player with two wins in 2022.  Hideki Matsuyama had one in the fall (2021) and the win at Sony.

Scheffler’s star is rising and with The Players then all the majors in front of him, he’s no doubt pretty confident.

He should be.

He’s got major talent and it showed on a stressful, pressure-packed  Sunday at Bay Hill.

Arnie would have loved it.

Bay Hill Scoreboard: 

Breaking News:  Bryson DeChambeau has withdrawn from this week’s Players Championship.  His injury recovery is much slower than he anticipated.  Bryson reported last week that he was “90 percent” when he withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational.