Scottie Scheffler started the day with a share of the six-way tie for lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but was two over par at the turn after making one birdie and three bogeys.
He turned it around and retained a share of the leadat 9-under with five birdies on the back nine and a single bogey thanks to one-putting his final seven greens.
“Any time you hit a good tee shot it seems like you may have a chance to make a birdie, maybe, but then it’s a big maybe on that one. It’s just challenging. The greens are really firm. The winds were up today. It was very gusty. It was quite challenging.
“I think I’m just doing a good job of trying to stay in a good head space on the greens,” said the American. “I missed some putts that I should have made today on the front nine. A lot of that I just attributed to how gusty it was with the winds. I think I let some of the gusts and stuff kind of get to me. Maybe I should have backed off of a couple of putts that I hit. The wind can be a bit of a distractor at times.
“On the back nine I did a really good job of just trying to stay as much in it as I could and hit some good putts, and sometimes you really just got to get lucky with the wind whether or not it’s going to gust up during or after — like, I can think the putt I hit on No. 2, I hit a really good putt, wind gusts it. I think it was 5, I hit another really good putt, got gusted with the wind. Then I hit a short one on 9 today where I kind of felt a gust and I didn’t hit the putt the way I should have.
“Going into the back nine, I just did my best to try to commit to hitting good putts. It’s still a factor, it’s just fortunate that I was on the right side of it on the back nine and kind of on the wrong side of it on the front.”
Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who shared the overnight lead, was one over at the turn after firing two birdies and three bogeys but also rallied on the back nine producing four birdies and one bogey for a 70 and a share of the lead.
“It’s hard out there. You’re leaving those 25-footers for birdie, you’re just trying to get it dead, because those 4-footers on those greens are quite difficult, especially when it’s windy,” he said. “I always say, when you play in windy conditions, the hardest part of it is putting. Certainly it was today. I felt like I hit a lot of good putts today, I felt like I burned the edge a lot. Then, at the end, it was just great to hole that one on 17. I was pretty happy with that. I felt like I was going to hole the one on 18 as well, but all-in-all I’m very happy with my day’s work.”
Wyndham Clark made two double bogeys and two birdies on the front nine before starting the back nine birdie-birdie-eagle but closed with a bogey for a 71 to move down into third place at 8-under.
Fellow Americans Will Zalatoris (71) and Russell Henley (72) as well as Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama share fourth place at 7-under.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland started the day in T30 at 1-under but is currently tied in eighth place at 5-under after closing with three birdies for a 68. He tied the nine-hole scoring record at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a 6-under 30 on the back nine at Bay Hill. He is the first player in the Shotlink era (since 2003) to drive the par-4 10th hole where hetwo-putted from 64 feet, 11 inches to make birdie.
“I played the front nine pretty well. I hit two good shots into 1. Hit a great shot into 2. Hit a good drive, hit two good shots into 4. I was giving myself loads of looks.
“Then I hit a decent shot into 7 that I then 3-putted. Then, instead of, I was staying patient, then, instead of six pars in a row and then trying to break that with a birdie, I end up making a bogey, was sort of pretty frustrated going into the back nine.
“Then the 3 on 10, the tee shot onto the green there, that sort of got me going a little bit.
“Then I made a great par save on 11 after driving it in the water. And those holes in particular, 10 and 11, sort of got me going. There is some chances coming in. 12’s a good birdie chance, par-5 16 as well. But obviously played those last few holes really nicely, and, again, second day in a row where I’ve actually putted really, really nicely, which is good to see.”
