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

 

[March 11, 2024]  Scottie Scheffler rode his new putter to a five-stroke victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday in Orlando, Fla.

Scheffler shot his lowest round of the week, a 6-under 66, to finish 15-under 273 and win Palmer's event at Bay Hill Club & Lodge for the second time in three years. He claimed $4 million for taking first place at the fourth signature event of 2024.

"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.

Wyndham Clark shot a 70 and finished second at 10 under. Ireland's Shane Lowry posted an even-par 72 to settle for third at 9 under.

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'll now head to TPC Sawgrass next week to defend that title.

Long known to struggle with his putting, Scheffler switched from a blade to a mallet putter this week. He said he got off to "a horrible start" with his new club on Thursday 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 Scheffler sank a 13-foot birdie on his opening hole while Lowry bogeyed his first two thanks to wayward tee shots.

After one more birdie on the front nine, Scheffler slammed the door by making consecutive birdies at Nos. 10-11 and again at Nos. 15-16. His right-to-left 35-footer at the par-4 15th died right at the hole and dropped for an exclamation point.

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

"I mean, hopefully," Scheffler 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 Scheffler 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," Scheffler 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 has one green jacket to his name so far but no other major championships just yet. His newfound strength 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. Not sure I'm one of them," Lowry said. "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."

Lowry received one of the few sponsor exemptions into the tournament, and the FedEx Cup points he earned will go a long way to a better finish in 2024 than he had in 2023, when he missed the FedEx Cup playoffs.

"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 on Sunday to tie for fourth at 7 under.

Sahith Theegala (68) and Brendon Todd (70) tied for sixth at 5 under. Byeong Hun An of South Korea (68), Emiliano Grillo of Argentina (71), Andrew Putnam (70) and Max Homa (73) finished in a knot for eighth at 4 under.

--Field Level Media

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