This would seem the perfect weekend to demonstrate the competitive strength of the PGA Tour. A final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational which will see Scottie Scheffler, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Max Homa among those jousting for victory feels appropriate.
Confirmation that the PGA Tour will move to no cut, limited field scenarios for decent chunks of 2024 has drawn widespread and varied analysis. At Bay Hill, the benefits of a best versus best system are playing out.
“That’s what we’re trying to do here,” said McIlroy. “It’s great. You had Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm in Phoenix. You had Rahmbo and Max Homa in LA. You’ve got a ton of big names here. It’s great to see the big names playing well and playing well all at the same golf courses in the same tournaments. I think, for a player, for us to get that thrill of getting up, going up against each other week after week, that’s really cool.”
Scheffler is seeking a successful defence of the title. McIlroy won here in 2018. Hatton was the 2020 champion. Scheffler, who finished his third round with a trio of consecutive birdies, sits alongside Hovland just one shy of the 54-hole leader, Kurt Kitayama. A 40ft-birdie putt at the last sealed Kitayama’s position. Spieth, playing alongside Kitayama, missed his opportunity from a fifth of that distance.
Hatton is two adrift. McIlroy, courtesy of a bogey-free 68, sits at minus six alongside Harris English. “I think you find a knack for playing this place if you come back year after year,” added McIlroy. “It’s a bit like a US Open. That’s how it feels with the thick rough, the firm greens and the really tricky conditions.”
Thomas and Spieth are five under. Homa is four under. Spieth’s two over par 74 was the outlier on a day where scoring was impressive despite the backdrop McIlroy correctly described. The tournament, which offers $3.6m to the victor, is wonderfully poised.
“Around this golf course, as you see today, there’s guys that have gone from very far behind to in the lead,” said Scheffler after his 68. “If this was Sunday, Viktor and I would be close to going into a playoff and he started pretty far behind. Around this place if you can get hot you’re never too far out of it. I just tried to keep reminding myself of that.”
Indeed, Hovland’s 66 was matched only by Orlando resident Hatton and Pierceson Coody. Charles Coody, the 1971 Masters champion, is Pierceson’s grandfather.
Rahm, who led after an opening round of 65, has slumped to back-to-back rounds of 76 for an aggregate of one over. On a turbulent Saturday, the world No 1 posted just six pars and bogeyed five holes in a row from the 7th.
