In a sport where calm often prevails, golfer Scottie Scheffler thrives in chaos.
The Ryder Cup cauldron put Scheffler on the map. February’s fan-crazed Phoenix Open was home to his first PGA Tour victory. During Sunday’s topsy-turvy Arnold Palmer Invitational, he once again rose to the occasion on a day when five different players held the lead, two golfers broke 70 and six carded scores in the 80s.
At windswept cold-blooded Bay Hill, Scheffler rode a bogey-free back nine to a one-shot victory over a trio of more accomplished players — 2020 API winner Tyrrell Hatton, six-time Tour winner Billy Horschel and Viktor Hovland, in pursuit of his fourth victory in eight worldwide starts.
Scheffler’s even-par 72 left him with a 5-under-par 283, tied with 1983 winner Mike Nicolette for the second-highest winning score behind Hatton’s 4-under 284 finish two years ago.
“I had my head down all day,” Scheffler said. “I kind of just tried to stay patient. I didn’t make any mistakes on the back nine. That’s probably really where I credit the win.”
With the victory, his second title in four weekends, Scheffler has gone from the PGA Tour’s best player without a win to one of the players to beat.
Scheffler sealed Sunday’s triumph with a two-putt from just inside 70 feet on the par-4 18th hole, leaving Hatton a shot back while he waited in the clubhouse.
“Right now I’m exhausted,” Scheffler said. “This course is a total beat-down trying to play. I’m very pleased I didn’t have to play any extra holes.”
Needing to answer with a birdie to force a playoff, Hovland left short a putt off the fringe from slightly outside 15 feet for a 2-over 74. Since Saturday with a 4-shot lead, Hovland was 6-over and took 30 putts Sunday — 7 more than the 24-year-old needed during a Friday 66 that gave him the 36-hole advantage.
“I just struggled on the greens today,” he said. “That was kind of the story of the weekend. Pretty frustrating.”
Horschel had the final chance to force extra holes and deliver a highly coveted victory for a 35-year-old who grew up 90 minutes away on the Space Coast. Horschel attended the API as a kid, caddied in the pro-am and was a Florida Gators senior All-American in 2008 when Tiger Woods sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole for one of his eight wins at Bay Hill.
On Sunday, Horschel faced a putt on a similar line, this from 29 feet, but slid the ball 3 feet by the hole on the high side.
“I’m not going to lie, I read it, and I’ve heard Tiger say he’s read it and he’s always played a little bit more break,” Horschel said. “I played it probably two more balls than what my initial read was. I hit it a little too hard, played it a little too much high — either one of those.”
Horschel’s miss ensured the API’s 54-hole leader would not win for the fifth time in six years, leaving Hatton the only golfer to prevail with the final-round lead since Jason Day in 2016.
Co-leaders at 7-under entering Sunday, Horschel and Talor Gooch came undone on the front nine.
Horschel went out in 40 and dropped five shots on his first 10 holes, yet rallied with 2 birdies on his final eight holes.
“I don’t give up,” he said. “I’m going to battle till the end. I’ll go down in flames before I tap out.”
Meanwhile, Gooch’s collapse was too much to overcome. Two double-bogeys highlighted a front-nine 43 during a round of 77 on a day when the scoring average was 75.5.
Hatton’s 69 and Lucas Herbert’s 68 were the only sub-70 final-round scores and among three scores in the 60s during the past three Sundays at Bay Hill. The other is Matt Fitzpatrick’s 69 in 2020.
“We know the weekends are pretty brutal here,” Hatton said.
Extremely challenging environments and conditions are proving to be wheelhouse for Scheffler, a 25-year-old Texan now No. 5 in the world rankings.
During the 2021 Ryder Cup win at Whistling Straits, Scheffler’s 4&3 singles win against world No. 1 Jon Rahm served notice and stood out amid the U.S. team’s resounding win.
The exuberant if not unruly crowds at Phoenix test a player’s focus while a gettable golf course forces an aggressive approach on nearly every shot. Bay Hill’s fast, firm, breezy conditions, numerous water hazards and highly penal rough keep a golfer on edge and playing cautiously for 18 holes.
“I’m pretty pleased to be able to win on two very different types of tournaments,” Scheffler said.
Scheffler credits his closing ability to the competitiveness gleaned from his father, Scott, a stay-at-home dad while mother, Diane, served as a chief operating officer at a Dallas law firm.
Scheffler’s toughness mirrors his maternal grandmother, Mary DeLorenzo, who walked 18 holes Sunday 17 days shy of her 87th birthday.
The Schefflers and golf fans everywhere hung on every shot Sunday at Bay Hill, where the tournament winner was as much a survivor.
“When the conditions get really tough and the fields get really good, I get excited,” Scheffler said. “That’s why I practice, to come out here and compete. I work hard, and being in these moments is really fun.”
