You know the phrase by now because it has been uttered ad nauseam over the last year: If Scottie Scheffler make putts, he will win. Well, this week at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Scheffler did just that. The world No. 1 was a class above the rest at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational, finishing the tournament at 15 under for a five-stroke victory over Wyndham Clark.
Scheffler's triumph marks his second in the last three years at Bay Hill and his first on the PGA Tour since the 2023 Players Championship, a title he is set to defend next week. Since raising the trophy at TPC Sawgrass, Scheffler has displayed a level of consistency not seen in the golf world in quite some time.
During his 19-tournament winless drought on the PGA Tour, Scheffler collected 15 top-10 finishes, seven of which saw him finish on the podium. The tee-to-green numbers were baffling -- and continue to be -- but it was almost equally as stunning the Texan did not collect a trophy during this span as his putter often held him back.
"I was just sticking to my process," said Scheffler. "I had a good couple off weeks at home. I had a good time with friends and family and kind of reset. Going into this week, I tried to have a good attitude and Teddy [Scott] I think did a really good job of keeping me in a good headspace and, yeah, we played well."
After finding himself as many as five strokes adrift in the third round, Scheffler battled back thanks in part to some timely putting and began the final round in a share of the lead with Shane Lowry. Clark added a birdie on No. 1 to make the twosome at the top a trio, but that is as close as Scheffler would let his competitors get as his newly introduced mallet putter transformed a glaring weakness into a scary proposition for the field.
A birdie from 12 feet on the first hole set the tone for the day, and the gap turned into a two-stroke lead when Lowry dropped a shot on the opener and Clark did the same up ahead on the par-3 2nd.
The reigning U.S. Open champion seesawed with numerous exchanges of birdies and bogeys while Scheffler remained his steady self. A conversion from 7 feet on the dangerous par-5 6th added Scheffler's second birdie of the day before another nice putt from just inside 8 feet allowed him to remain at 2 under on the round and 11 under for the tournament.
A third bogey from Clark on No. 9 dropped him to even par as he made the turn. Of those who started Sunday inside the top 10, Clark was one of two players to not card an over-par opening nine. The problem was Scheffler was the other, and he was only getting started.
After turning in 2-under 34, the 27-year-old tacked on birdies on Nos. 10-11 to push his lead to five. It was enough to put this tournament on ice as Scheffler strolled through the back nine with five pars and two more birdies for good measure to cap off a final-round 66 that clipped the field average by more than seven strokes.
Contending in spite of his putter over the last year, Scheffler slipped on his second red cardigan this week because of that very club. Called upon countless times over the weekend -- Scheffler gained +1.50 strokes putting on Saturday, four more on Sunday and didn't miss inside 15 feet in Round 4 -- the mallet shined and gave the top player in the game another tool at his disposal.
The only player to navigate Bay Hill in a bogey-free fashion Sunday, Scheffler once again displayed that when he has all aspects of his game firing -- even that pesky putter -- there is no one in the world who can extinguish him. Grade: A+
Here is the breakdown for the rest of the leaderboard at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
T4. Will Zalatoris (-7): I thought on Saturday that you could make him the Masters favorite, and I would have zero problems with it. Obviously, Scheffler took that off the table, but the point with Zalatoris is that he's way ahead of schedule, at least in my mind, in terms of where I thought he might be at this point in his return from back surgery. He's a real threat at every big event and every difficult golf course, and if he's, say, longer than 10-1 to win Augusta, that's something people should probably consider. Grade: A
T13. Justin Thomas (-3): Thomas was good all week just as he has been all year. He's striking the ball consistently well (although he does have a bit of a left miss going right now), and only five bogeys over his last eight holes kept him from a top-five finish here. Following a one-off missed cut at Riviera, this is (somewhat quietly!) his fourth top-12 finish in five starts. Grade: B+
T21. Rory McIlroy (-1): What a weird week for McIlroy, who got within a few of the lead at one point on Saturday. He drove it like he's been driving it all year, but he nearly finished last in approach play, which marks the third time in four PGA Tour starts where his approach play has lacked.
- Pebble: 14th in driving | 76th in approach (of 80) (two measured rounds)
- Riviera: 1st | 36th
- PGA National: 1st | 31st
- Bay Hill: 1st | 55th (of 58)
Is it a concern? I don't know. He drives it well enough to mostly make up for it, but it's something to keep an eye on going into the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass next week. Grade: B-
MC. Collin Morikawa (+6): I don't know that there's cause for concern here, but Morikawa has missed two of his last four events going into the Players Championship next week. One of his calling cards when he first joined the Tour was his consistency from week to week. That may not have been correct. He actually appears to be somebody whose ceiling is quite high but might also have a low floor. There's nothing wrong with this, of course, and all things considered, it is probably preferable if your goal is winning high-level events. It's just not who I necessarily thought he was going to be. Grade: F