Livescore
Billy Horschel proved he could tame a trespassing alligator, but when Bay Hill bared its teeth he became the hunted.
Arnold Palmer’s demanding course sent golfers running for cover and celebrating pars, especially early on at the late golfing legend’s annual PGA Tour stop. Thursday’s opening round scoring average of 74.624 was the highest since 2011 and fourth highest in 40 years.
Back from a two-month layoff for a rib injury, world No. 3 Xander Schauffele wondered what he was thinking making his return at API.
“Got my ass kicked,” he said following an opening 5-over 77, his highest score in 13 rounds at Bay Hill. “It’s a tough place to come back to. I’m a bit of a masochist, I guess.”
Not everyone was undone by the 7,302-yard, par-72 layout playing more than 150 yards shorter than on the scorecard amid gusty winds intensifying the course’s trademark fast, firm conditions and debilitating rough.
The 2024 runner-up, Wyndham Clark, continued his strong play at Bay Hill, carding 5-under 67 for a 2-shot leader over a quartet including U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley. World No. 2 Rory McIlroy headlined five players 3 shots back, while world No. 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler was 4 shots back along a trio a high-profile players, Colin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay.
Clark shot 82-80 on the weekend during his first trip to Bay Hill in ’20, and was 28-over in nine rounds of the API before a fourth-round 70 in ’23. The ’23 U.S. Open winner is since 15-under in five rounds while gaining confidence along the way.
“There’s a lot of trouble out here, and I’ve just gotten more comfortable with some of those tee shots,” Clark said. “Maybe a little more conservative on some holes, maybe a little more aggressive on others — just thinking my way around the course better. In the past sometimes I would get out of position and I would try to make up for it, and then I make a big number.”
Familiarity didn’t help Horschel, who attended tournament as a teen growing up on Florida’s Space Coast and has teed it up every year at Bay Hill since ’13.
The former Florida Gator made national headlines when he shooed away an actual gator on the fairway at last week’s Cognizant Classic at PGA National. Thursday he faded into the background with a demoralizing 79.
Horschel declined an interview, saying he had a pressing engagement with tournament sponsor Mastercard. The eight-time winner on Tour might have had time to chat if not for a closing double-bogey after he hit his tee shot out of bounds on No. 18.
When Horschel exited the course, the day was shaping up to be a bloodbath for the 72-player field. But conditions gradually improved from untenable to manageable, at least for the players on their game on a day when just 14 golfers finished under par.
“The guys that teed off a little later got a little bit of a reprieve,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy also drew a favorable pairing with close friend and fellow Irishman Shane Lowry, a Ryder Cup partner and teammate during a victory 2024 Zurich Classic.
Lowry capitalized on the conditions and comfort playing alongside McIlroy to card 3-under 69, but was sure to focus on the difficult task at hand. Even then, he closed with a bogey 5 on the par-4 18th.
“It is nice to be playing with one of you are friends and it’s nice to have a little few chats on tee boxes,” he said. “But on a course like this you really need to be switched on to what you’re doing.”
Lowry, who finished third at the ’24 API, was braced after he tuned into the coverage prior to his 1 p.m. tee time.
“It didn’t look much fun out there,” he said. “I wasn’t particularly looking forward to my round.”
Golfers who were intimidated, lost concentration or control of their golf ball were blown out to sea, with most never to be seen again on the leaderboard.
Thomas was among the few able to rally. Back on his game and in the top 10 of the world rankings, at No. 8, the 15-time Tour winner sat 4-over after 4 holes, following double-bogeys at holes 2 and 4. Thomas made six birdies and just one bogey from there.
Perhaps even more impressive was the performance by Jackson Koivun, 19, a sophomore at Auburn and rival to Thomas’ Alabama Crimson Tide.
In the field on sponsor’s exemption as the Palmer Cup Award winner, Koivun finished with an even-par 72 after he bogeyed No. 18, playing the day’s fourth-toughest hole. Koivun enters Friday well-positioned to take another big step in the the PGA Tour University Accelerated program.
Sitting at 18 points, Koivun needs 20 to become eligible for all open, full-field Tour events. He would earn a point by making the cut.
“PGA Tour U is definitely sitting in the back of my mind, trying not to think about it too much,” he said. “It’s kind of like a carrot dangling in front of me, I just got to go get it.”
Koivun also knows what he’s up against at Bay Hill.
“This might have been one of the toughest golf course layouts I’ve ever played,” he said.
Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com
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