Windermere, Florida – Scottie Scheffler survived the toughest scoring day at Bayhill in 40 years and a stellar field to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bayhill, his second win on the PGA Tour this season. The King always dreamed of hosting a U.S Open at his Bayhill Club and Lodge, and without help from the “bluecoats” in Far Hills, his team led by superintendent Chris Flynn managed to offer up a major of their own.
Early in the week, you could see the stage being set for perhaps the toughest test of the 2022 PGA Tour season with deep thick overseeded rough and firm and fast shortgrass areas. Add a touch of wind into the mix and you get an over par cut line and a winning score of 5 under par. Arnie had longed for this exact type of week at his tournament to show the world that his course could stand up to the games’ best. By the weekend, the rough was over 6 inches in places, the greens were firm like concrete and had that gorgeous biscuit tan hue. Add in a few (ok a bunch of) tucked hole locations, some water in play and you have scoring reminiscent of a major championship.
Scheffler, the 25-year-old Texan, stood up to the challenge with gutsy play down the stretch that was capped off by a brilliant 69 ft lag putt on the last that would’ve made the King proud. Scheffler shot rounds of 70-73-68-72 (5 under par – 283 total), it was his 2nd win in his last 3 starts (he won the Waste Management Phoenix in February). Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, and Billy Horschel all finished a shot behind Scheffler – tied for second at 4 under par. Gary Woodland and Chris Kirk finished tied for fifth, two strokes back at 3 under par.
Scores: https://www.pgatour.com/yahoo/leaderboard.html
