Scottie Scheffler wins Arnold Palmer event, ends year-long golf title drought

FLORIDA – Scottie Scheffler rode his new putter to a five-stroke victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 10 in Orlando, Florida, leading a rival to say “it would be borderline unfair if he starts putting really good”.

The American shot his lowest round of the week, a six-under 66, to finish 15-under 273 and win Palmer’s event at Bay Hill Club and Lodge for the second time in three years.

He claimed US$4 million (S$5.3 million) for taking first place at the fourth signature event of 2024. It was Scheffler’s seventh career PGA Tour title.

“Mr Palmer meant a lot to me, meant a lot to us as professional golfers and the game of golf, and so it’s very special to be able to sit here and wear his red sweater again,” Scheffler said of the Hall of Famer who died in 2016.

World No. 5 Wyndham Clark shot a 70 and finished second at 10 under, one shot ahead of Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who posted a 72 to settle for third.

Said Clark of Scheffler: “He’s the best player in the world right now and that’s what the best players in the world do, they shoot 66 in a final round.

“It would be borderline unfair if he starts putting really good. If he starts putting positive each week, he’s going to be really hard to beat.”

Scheffler, 27, is the world No. 1 but went nearly one year between official PGA Tour victories. His last triumph was the 2023 Players Championship, and he will now head to TPC Sawgrass this week to defend that title.

Long known to struggle with his putting, Scheffler switched from a blade to a mallet putter last week. He said he got off to “a horrible start” with his new club on March 7 but stayed the course.

“When I got to the practice range after, the discussion was not what are we going to fix. It was how well that I did,” Scheffler said.

“And that all goes back to the process that we’re working on and it’s not results-based... It wasn’t like we were searching for anything out there. It was more just kind of a reflection of where I was mentally at the time and I thought we did a good job.”

Scheffler and Lowry entered the day sharing the 54-hole lead, but the former sank a 13-foot birdie on his opening hole, while Lowry, ranked 37th in the world, bogeyed his first two after wayward tee shots.

After one more birdie on the front nine, Scheffler slammed the door by making consecutive birdies at the 10th and 11th holes and again at the 15th and 16th. His right-to-left 35-footer at the par-four 15th died right at the hole and dropped for an exclamation point.

Does that mean Scheffler has the putter he needs going forward?

“I mean, hopefully,” he laughed. “Yeah, I like not having to line the ball up. I line this putter up well in the middle of the face. It’s very good visually.”

But as important to him as the switch to a mallet style was a redressing of his mental game.

“It’s not like I’ve been a bad putter my whole career,” he said. “I’ve just gone through a stretch where it’s been tough. Yeah, I think this week I did a really good job of not letting the misses get to me.”

In addition to two of Palmer’s red cardigans, Scheffler, who won the 2022 Masters, has one Green Jacket to his name. His newfound finesse on the greens may have his competitors nervous.

“There’s probably only a couple of players in the world that can live with him playing like that,” Lowry said. “Not sure I’m one of them.”

“I was obviously just disappointed I didn’t put any pressure on him early. I got off to a bad start, he got off to a good start. I was a few shots behind all at the end of the day.”

He received one of the few sponsor exemptions into the tournament, and the FedExCup points he earned will go a long way to a better finish in 2024 than he had in 2023, when he missed the FedExCup play-offs.

“I was close to being a lot better this week,” Lowry said, “but another top-five, some well-needed, much-needed FedExCup points, and on to Sawgrass next week.”

Russell Henley and Will Zalatoris each shot 72 to tie for fourth at seven under. Americans Sahith Theegala (68) and Brendon Todd (70) tied for sixth at five under.

An Byeong-hun of South Korea (68), Emiliano Grillo of Argentina (71), Andrew Putnam (70) and Max Homa (73) finished in a knot for eighth at four under. REUTERS, AFP