SCHEFFLER ON WINNING ROLL
Scottie Scheffler isn't sure he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational as much as he survived it.
Over the final four holes Sunday at Bay Hill, he had to get up-and-down from 149 yards in rough covering the tops of his shoes, and from 67 yards over the water to a back pin on the third-easiest hole.
The two conventional pars that followed were just as scary, one from 45 feet and the other from about 70 feet, on greens with barely enough grass to keep the ball from sliding, knowing a gust could send the ball an extra 8 feet.
Scheffler answered every challenge. He closed with a bogey-free back nine at Bay Hill and an even-par 72 for a oneshot victory, his second on the PGA Tour in a month. He moved to No. 5 in the world.
“To be completely honest with you, 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.”
Viktor Hovland (74) missed an 18-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th. Billy Horschel (75) missed a 30-foot birdie in the final group, both trying to force a playoff. They finished one shot behind, along with Tyrrell Hatton, who had a 69 and finished an hour earlier.
Scheffler didn't win the U.S. Open. It just felt like one.
“I feel punch drunk, to be honest,” Rory McIlroy said after a 76-76 weekend. “It's like crazy golf. You just don't get rewarded for good shots. The way the conditions are, it makes you feel as if you're not playing as good as you are.”
Only a few birdies on the par-5 16th and pars on the 18th kept this from being the toughest final round at Bay Hill in four decades. The average score was still 75.48. Six players shot 80 or higher and only four players broke par.
Gary Woodland had as good
a chance as anyone until he took two shots to get out of a tough lie in the bunker and made double bogey on the par-3 17th, and then finished with a bogey. He was two shots behind.
“I'm glad I'm off that golf course,” Woodland said. “Frustrating. I played a lot better than the score showed. I can take a lot of positives, but it stings right now.”
Scheffler now has two PGA Tour titles in his last three starts, having picked up his first victory at the Phoenix Open. That one was loud, and he had to make birdies to stay in the mix. This one was stressful, and no less rewarding. Outside of the par 5s, “you're trying to just make a par on every other hole,” Scheffler said.
Stress was abundant for everyone. Scheffler was tough as nails.
He was in deep trouble on the 15th, in the pine straw and behind a tree, when he tried to hit a punch hook up the fairway.
The ball dribbled out into thick rough, he did well to get that onto the front of the green and then made a 20-footer for par.
On the par-5 16th, Scheffler caught a terrible break when his drive hopped out of the hand and into a lie so awkward in the collar that he couldn't get it back to the fairway. Then, he had to lay up to avoid going into the water. He hit wedge to 6 feet and saved par.
His final two holes, not nearly as theatric, were no less important.
“It's not really a comfortable position having to hit it to 50 feet and try and two-putt with the lead,” he said. “But I just trusted myself and played conservative the last two holes. And pars were enough.”
Horschel shot 40 on the front nine and never caught up, though he made a series of par putts to at least have a chance at the end. He had shared the 54-hole lead with Talor Gooch, who went out in 43.
Elsewhere
Jin Young Ko lived up to her billing as the No. 1 player in women's golf by starting her LPGA Tour season with a twoshot victory in the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore, her sixth win in her last 10 starts.
Ko birdied the final hole for a 6-under 66 to beat In Gee Chun (69) and Minjee Lee (63).
Needing to win or finish solo second to retain PGA Tour status, Ryan Brehm ran away with the Puerto Rico Open for his first tour title.
Retief Goosen holed out for eagle from a greenside bunker on the short par-4 first hole, birdied the next two and cruised to an 8-under 63 and a four-stroke victory in the Champions Tour's Hoag Classic in Newport Beach.
Ashun Wu of China closed with a 6-under 65 as he turned a four-shot deficit into a four-shot victory in the Magical Kenya Open on the European Tour.