ORLANDO, Fla. — It felt like half the field in the Arnold Palmer Invitational had one hand on the big, shiny winner’s trophy at one point or another in Sunday’s final round.
Player after player on a hot afternoon with temperatures pushing 90 degrees had a chance to seize the moment and each time they stumbled.
At the end of a positively wild day at Bay Hill, Scottie Scheffler emerged victorious, won for the second time in his past three starts and slipped on the signature Palmer red cardigan sweater that goes to the champion.
Scheffler shot a final-round 72 on a day when there were six rounds in the 80s and only two in the 60s. He finished 5-under par for the tournament, one shot clear of Tyrrell Hatton, who shot 69 Sunday, Viktor Hovland (74) and 54-hole co-leader Billy Horschel (75).
The win moves Scheffler, who got his first career PGA Tour win last month at the Phoenix Open, to No. 5 in the world rankings.
“It feels great to be able to win here,” Scheffler said. “To be completely honest with you, right now I’m exhausted. This course is a total beat-down trying to play. I’m very pleased I didn’t have to play any extra holes.”
Indeed, a playoff in the treacherous course conditions with the thick rough, slick greens and wind, would have been cruel and unusual punishment.
Just ask the guys who were in the mix on Sunday.
“I feel punch drunk, to be honest,” said Rory McIlroy, who opened the week with a 7-under 65 and finished the tournament 1-over after shooting 8-over during the weekend. “The weekend, it’s like crazy golf. You just don’t get rewarded for good shots. I’m venting here and I’m frustrated and whatever.”
Hovland, who entered the week having won three of his past six tournaments, had hovered around the top of the leaderboard all week and several times on Sunday looked poised to win again, at one point holding a two-shot lead.
“Obviously, I’m playing some great golf, but this one stings,” Hovland said. “My last couple wins, I felt like it kind of came out of nowhere. This one was more like I felt like I should have won. Those sting a little bit.”
Gary Woodland, who finished tied for fifth at 3-under, had the most troubling finish of anyone. He eagled the par-5 16th hole to wrest the lead from Hovland and get to 6-under and promptly took a messy double bogey on the par-3 17th hole.
Woodland’s tee shot on 17 fell just short of the green in the bunker and he left the sand shot in the bunker, splashing out his third shot to four feet and missed the putt. He also bogeyed 18.
“I’m glad I’m off that golf course,” Woodland said. “I’m glad I’m done. Frustrating. I played a lot better than the score showed. I can take a lot of positives, but it stings right now. I need a day off. It was just a mental … it just beats you up out there.”
Horschel was in great position early in the day and shot 40 on the front nine. With the players ahead of him struggling, all it took was a couple of birdies on the back to get him back into it.
“I knew I was still in it on No. 11 tee,’’ Horschel said. “I just needed to play a really clean round coming in, and I did that. I made two birdies. I don’t give in. I don’t give up. I’m going to battle till the end. I’ll go down in flames before I tap out.’’
The conditions, which many players groused about, had a lot of them wanting to tap out.
McIlroy, who had his third consecutive nightmarish Sunday at Bay Hill (he has shot 76 the past three years in the final round with a chance to win), was most vocal about the state of the course, speculating that the set-up to a course that’s already very difficult might keep top players from playing in the tournament in the future.
“They need to do something about it,’’ McIlroy said. “There’s a lot of guys that sort of stay away this week to get ready for next week (The Players Championship). It’s just a golf course set-up issue and maybe just trying to make it a little less penal when you miss, I guess. I don’t mind golf courses being penal when you miss, but it’s not rewarding good shots. I think that’s where it starts to get across the line.’’
Woodland compared it to Winged Foot at the 2020 U.S. Open with only one player breaking par, winner Bryson DeChambeau.
“This was as hard as I’ve seen in a long time,” Woodland said. “The conditions were brutal. The golf course is hard enough, and then you throw out the firm greens and the wind and not much grass, ball is oscillating a little bit.”
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