The PGA Tour’s fourth Signature Event of the 2025 season kicked off on Thursday, as Bay Hill played host to the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Conditions thus far have played extremely difficult, with scores much higher than normal. Yet, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler tempered the weather to enter the clubhouse at 1-under, tied for 10th.
The leaders in the clubhouse sit at 3-under. But the vast majority of players recorded very high scores, including Max Homa, who carded an 81 on Thursday.
Following his round, Scheffler was immediately asked how the wind was. His response reeked of sarcasm.
“It was blowing,” Scheffler replied dryly.
He then provided some context to the playing conditions.
“You pick your poison out here,” he said.
“It all seemed pretty tough, to be fair. I mean, heavy rough… maybe the fairways — I would say one of the things that’s interesting that you may not see on TV is, what is so challenging is if you’re trying to run the ball up, a lot of fairways are really soft, but the greens are like concrete.
“So it can be really challenging to get the ball close to the hole, especially if you’re not coming from out of the fairway.”
The ‘concrete’ greens Scheffler referenced are reflected in the scores.
With just over half of the field finished for the day, only 16 of 72 players are under par. Meanwhile, 25 players are in the clubhouse at 4-over or worse. Many of them are some of the Tour’s best players, too.
But unlike much of the field, the Ridgewood, NJ native was able to maintain control and remain in contention. Despite that, his sarcasm meter was off the charts once again toward the end of his press conference.
One of the media members referenced Fred Couples’ notion on how hitting the center of the club face is the way to beat the wind.
“Yeah, hitting it solid doesn’t ever hurt. Doesn’t hurt,” Scheffler said matter-of-factly.
The winds are not expected to let us as we progress through the tournament. So, you can expect further carnage at Bay Hill.
Scheffler will look to build upon his solid opening round on Friday. He will tee off at 1:00 PM ET alongside World No. 4 Ludvig Aberg.
More Golf: Scottie Scheffler Compares ‘Brutal’ Arnold Palmer Invitational to Torrey Pines
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