ORLANDO, Fla. — Wyndham Clark dealt with a anxious day at Bay Hill by eliminating as a lot bother as potential. Two late birdies because the wind lastly waned carried him to a 5-under 67 and a two-shot lead Thursday within the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
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It was clear from the beginning Bay Hill was going to be a beast with chilly climate and large wind on a course with thick tough and placing surfaces that already had a yellow sheen to them.
Clark, with a pitching wedge to 2 toes on the 18th for one closing birdie, had the very best rating to guide the match in eight years.
Solely 14 gamers broke par, the fewest in 36 years at Bay Hill with an asterisk — this now’s a signature occasion with solely 72 gamers within the area, in contrast with 120.
However it was powerful.
“Pick your poison out here — you can probably create a story with whatever it is,” defending champion Scottie Scheffler stated after the world’s No. 1 participant shot 71. “The greens are tough, the rough is high, and the wind is up.”
Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry, Corey Conners and Christiaan Bezuidenhout had been the one different gamers to interrupt 70, every with a 69. Rory McIlroy was poised to hitch them till a bogey on the ultimate gap to hitch the group at 70.
Lowry was watching a few of the function teams on streaming earlier than his afternoon tee time and did not like what he noticed — Cameron Younger on his option to an 82, Max Homa with an 81 and, not like final week at PGA Nationwide, a premium on par.
“I turned on the TV and watched some golf this morning and it didn’t look much fun out there. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to my round,” Lowry stated. “But I think we got favorable conditions. Even though it wasn’t easy, I felt like did I a good job of making my way around the golf course. I was pretty happy with my result.”
The wind died however the greens had been getting crustier, so name it a draw.
Clark missed solely three greens and salvaged a bogey from a shot into the water on the par-4 third gap. He did not drop one other shot.
He narrowly missed an 18-foot eagle try on the par-5 sixteenth, hit a troublesome lag from 45 toes on the par-3 seventeenth for a tap-in par and completed with birdie.
“I knew it was going to be actually difficult. And though 5 beneath seems to be like a unbelievable rating, I wasn’t essentially attempting to shoot that quantity, it type of simply occurred. I used to be actually simply attempting to maintain it in entrance of me. Any time I bought out of place, hit it again in need of the inexperienced, depart myself into the wind, straightforward chips.
“I really didn’t have that much stress, which was really nice. That makes it for an easier round when it’s really tough.”
It was a lot powerful for Xander Schauffele, who returned from two months off to heal an intercostal pressure and slight cartilage tear in his proper ribs. His well being was good. The rust was evident. The rating was a 77.
“Got my kicked,” Schauffele stated. “Yeah, it’s a tough place to come back to, not going to lie. Palm Springs would have been nice, something like that. I knew I was going to come in on short notice to what is sort of like a major championship setup around the greens.”
Schauffele has the longest lively lower streak at 57 tournaments, which now’s in peril going into Friday. He was tied for 52nd, and solely the highest 50 and ties advance to the weekend on this player-hosted signature occasion.
However then, it was like that for everybody.
“I feel like I hit the ball really well and had very few birdie chances,” Ludvig Aberg stated after he battled to a 72.
The scoring common was 74.6, and each gap performed over par aside from the par 5s.
“The fairways are quite narrow and when you miss them you’re in that thick rough, and you lose all control of your golf ball from there and you’re just hoping for a good lie to get it up somewhere near the green,” McIlroy stated.
Bradley was bogey-free till he missed the fifteenth inexperienced to the left after which hit what appeared to be a great chip till it stored rolling some 6 toes by the pin. Each inexperienced was handled with care.
“Anything under par any day around this place is good, but on a day like today, it’s one of the better rounds I’ve played all year,” Bradley stated.
“I think that this is the hardest course we play all year,” he stated. “I used to think it was Torrey . I think it’s here now. You’ve really got to play well to shoot under par. Sprinkle in some conditions like this, it’s really tough.”
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