Daniel Berger started the third round with a five-shot lead and has made two birdies and two bogeys through fifteen holes so far to hold on to the lead by two strokes at 13-under at the Arnold Palmer Invitational with play suspended overnight.
Should he maintain the outright lead at the end of the third round, he will seek to become the first wire-to-wire winner at the Arnold Palmer Invitational since Jason Day in 2016.
The last wire-to-wire winner on the PGA Tour was Justin Rose at the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open.
Fellow American Akshay Bhatia has made six birdies and three bogeys through sixteen holes and lies in second place at 11-under.
Austrian Sepp Straka fired a 66, the low round of the day, to move into T3 at 9-under. In his first thirteen rounds at Bay Hill, he had eleven over-par rounds and was a collective 39-over. Since that time, he has had five of six rounds in the 60s and is 21-under.
American Cameron Young made one bogey and closed with a 67 for a share of third place while compatriot Collin Morikawa made two bogeys and recorded a 70 to join the tie.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (USA) fired six birdies, five bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 18th for an even-par 72 and lies in T20 at 3-under.
Rory McIlroy (NI) withdrew prior to the round and Austin Smotherman (USA) during the round with back injuries.
Statement from Rory McIlroy:
“While warming up in the gym this morning, I felt a small twinge in my back. As I started hitting balls on the range before the round, it worsened and developed into muscle spasms in my lower back. Unfortunately, I’m not able to continue and have to… https://t.co/fYnbytqW5u— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 7, 2026
Play was suspended at the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to inclement weather (heavy rain) at 2:53 p.m. ET and resumed at 3:59 p.m. (delay of 1 hour, 6 minutes).
Play was suspended due to darkness at 6:30 p.m. with four players yet to complete their round. The third round will resume at 8 a.m. Final-round tee times will run from approximately 9:30 a.m. – 1:50 p.m.
Related: Luke’s Lasting Legacy
| Pos. | Player | To Par | Thru | Round | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Berger | -13 | 15 | Par | 63 | 68 | - | 131 |
| 2 | Akshay Bhatia | -11 | 16 | -3 | 70 | 66 | - | 136 |
| T3 | Sepp Straka | -9 | F | -6 | 72 | 69 | 66 | 207 |
| T3 | Cameron Young | -9 | F | -5 | 67 | 73 | 67 | 207 |
| T3 | Collin Morikawa | -9 | F | -2 | 66 | 71 | 70 | 207 |
| 6 | Min Woo Lee | -8 | F | -4 | 69 | 71 | 68 | 208 |
| T7 | Chris Gotterup | -7 | F | -3 | 69 | 71 | 69 | 209 |
| T7 | Ludvig Åberg | -7 | 16 | Par | 66 | 71 | - | 137 |
| T9 | Harry Hall | -6 | F | -4 | 73 | 69 | 68 | 210 |
| T9 | Russell Henley | -6 | F | -1 | 70 | 69 | 71 | 210 |
| T9 | Rickie Fowler | -6 | F | Par | 69 | 69 | 72 | 210 |
| T9 | Sahith Theegala | -6 | 16 | +1 | 70 | 67 | - | 137 |
| T13 | Viktor Hovland | -5 | F | -5 | 72 | 72 | 67 | 211 |
| T13 | Jordan Spieth | -5 | F | -4 | 72 | 71 | 68 | 211 |
| T13 | Bud Cauley | -5 | F | -1 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 211 |
| T16 | Jhonattan Vegas | -4 | F | -3 | 67 | 76 | 69 | 212 |
| T16 | Adam Scott | -4 | F | -1 | 68 | 73 | 71 | 212 |
| T16 | Michael Thorbjornsen | -4 | F | -1 | 70 | 71 | 71 | 212 |
| T16 | Xander Schauffele | -4 | F | +1 | 68 | 71 | 73 | 212 |
| T20 | Patrick Rodgers | -3 | F | -4 | 72 | 73 | 68 | 213 |
| T20 | Alex Noren | -3 | F | -3 | 72 | 72 | 69 | 213 |
| T20 | Maverick McNealy | -3 | F | -3 | 70 | 74 | 69 | 213 |
| T20 | Jacob Bridgeman | -3 | F | -3 | 75 | 69 | 69 | 213 |
| T20 | Si Woo Kim | -3 | F | -1 | 71 | 71 | 71 | 213 |
| T20 | Harris English | -3 | F | Par | 69 | 72 | 72 | 213 |
| T20 | Scottie Scheffler | -3 | F | Par | 70 | 71 | 72 | 213 |
| T27 | Matt Fitzpatrick | -2 | F | -2 | 74 | 70 | 70 | 214 |
| T27 | Kurt Kitayama | -2 | F | -1 | 69 | 74 | 71 | 214 |
| T27 | Ryo Hisatsune | -2 | F | Par | 71 | 71 | 72 | 214 |
| T30 | Nicolai Højgaard | -1 | F | -2 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 215 |
| T30 | Michael Kim | -1 | F | -1 | 75 | 69 | 71 | 215 |
| T30 | Billy Horschel | -1 | F | Par | 69 | 74 | 72 | 215 |
| T30 | Corey Conners | -1 | F | Par | 69 | 74 | 72 | 215 |
| T30 | Ryan Fox | -1 | F | +3 | 68 | 72 | 75 | 215 |
| T35 | Lucas Glover | Par | F | -2 | 73 | 73 | 70 | 216 |
| T35 | Matt McCarty | Par | F | -1 | 75 | 70 | 71 | 216 |
| T35 | Robert MacIntyre | Par | F | Par | 72 | 72 | 72 | 216 |
| T38 | Andrew Novak | +1 | F | -1 | 74 | 72 | 71 | 217 |
| T38 | Taylor Pendrith | +1 | F | -1 | 73 | 73 | 71 | 217 |
| T38 | Nico Echavarria | +1 | F | -1 | 72 | 74 | 71 | 217 |
| T38 | Taylor Moore | +1 | F | Par | 71 | 74 | 72 | 217 |
| T38 | Andrew Putnam | +1 | F | +1 | 73 | 71 | 73 | 217 |
| T38 | Hideki Matsuyama | +1 | F | +1 | 70 | 74 | 73 | 217 |
| T44 | Keith Mitchell | +2 | F | +1 | 69 | 76 | 73 | 218 |
| T44 | Max Greyserman | +2 | F | +2 | 74 | 70 | 74 | 218 |
| T46 | Nick Taylor | +3 | F | +3 | 72 | 72 | 75 | 219 |
| T46 | Daniel Bennett(a) | +3 | F | +5 | 71 | 71 | 77 | 219 |
| 48 | Chris Kirk | +4 | F | +3 | 73 | 72 | 75 | 220 |
| 49 | Tommy Fleetwood | +5 | F | +4 | 76 | 69 | 76 | 221 |
| 50 | Brian Harman | +8 | F | +6 | 73 | 73 | 78 | 224 |
| CUT | Ryan Gerard | +3 | - | - | 77 | 70 | - | 147 |
| CUT | Haotong Li | +3 | - | - | 77 | 70 | - | 147 |
| CUT | J.J. Spaun | +3 | - | - | 73 | 74 | - | 147 |
| CUT | Ben Griffin | +3 | - | - | 72 | 75 | - | 147 |
| CUT | Joel Dahmen | +3 | - | - | 75 | 72 | - | 147 |
| CUT | Tom Hoge | +3 | - | - | 74 | 73 | - | 147 |
| CUT | Brian Campbell | +3 | - | - | 71 | 76 | - | 147 |
| CUT | Shane Lowry | +3 | - | - | 74 | 73 | - | 147 |
| CUT | Jason Day | +4 | - | - | 74 | 74 | - | 148 |
| CUT | Sam Burns | +4 | - | - | 74 | 74 | - | 148 |
| CUT | Sungjae Im | +4 | - | - | 76 | 72 | - | 148 |
| CUT | Patrick Cantlay | +4 | - | - | 71 | 77 | - | 148 |
| CUT | Denny McCarthy | +5 | - | - | 72 | 77 | - | 149 |
| CUT | Pierceson Coody | +5 | - | - | 79 | 70 | - | 149 |
| CUT | Keegan Bradley | +5 | - | - | 71 | 78 | - | 149 |
| CUT | Sam Stevens | +6 | - | - | 74 | 76 | - | 150 |
| CUT | Justin Rose | +6 | - | - | 70 | 80 | - | 150 |
| CUT | Aldrich Potgieter | +11 | - | - | 79 | 76 | - | 155 |
| CUT | J.T. Poston | +12 | - | - | 75 | 81 | - | 156 |
| CUT | Justin Thomas | +14 | - | - | 79 | 79 | - | 158 |
| W/D | Rory McIlroy | - | - | - | 72 | 68 | - | 140 |
| W/D | Austin Smotherman | - | - | - | 74 | 71 | - | 145 |
