Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry of Ireland had up-and-down days, but wound up in the same place.
Scheffler (pictured right) and Lowry (left), two of six players who shared the 36-hole lead, both shot two-under-par 70 in windy conditions and are tied for the top spot heading to the final round of the 59th Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla.
“I needed a lot of patience,” said Scheffler, who was six strokes behind in the middle of his third round. “It’s a tough place to play. It’s tough to make putts, it’s tough to get the ball close to the hole. I’m proud of how I finished. On the back nine I did a really good job of just trying to stay as much in it as I could and hit some good putts, and sometimes you’ve really just got to get lucky with the wind whether or not it’s going to gust up during or after your shot.
“I think I’m just doing a good job of trying to stay in a good head space on the greens. I missed some putts that I should have made today on the front nine. A lot of that I just attributed to how gusty it was with the winds. I think I let some of the gusts and stuff kind of get to me. Maybe I should have backed off of a couple of putts that I hit. The wind can be a bit of a distractor at times.
“It’s going to take another really good round to win. The golf course is extremely challenging. You’ve got to stay patient and grind out a lot of pars.”
Scheffler, who captured the API two years ago for one of his six PGA Tour victories including the 2022 Masters, bounced back from three bogeys on the front nine with five of his six birdies coming home to record a 54-hole score of nine-under-par 207.
Lowry, who was tied for the lead after 54 holes in the Cognizant Classic last week and wound up in a tie for fourth, equaled that score by making four of his six birdies on the back nine.
“I didn’t feel that comfortable with my game all day,” said Lowry, who captured the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland among his six victories as a professional. “It’s hard out there. You’re leaving those 25-footers for birdie short, you’re just trying to get it dead, because those four-footers on those greens are quite difficult, especially when it’s windy.
“I always say, when you play in windy conditions, the hardest part of it is putting. Certainly, it was today. I felt like I hit a lot of good putts today, I felt like I burned the edge a lot. Then, at the end, it was just great to hole that one on No. 17. I was pretty happy with that. I felt like I was going to hole the one on No. 18 as well, but all-in-all, I’m very happy with my day’s work.
“I’m doing a good job of taking advantage of my invite this week so far. Hopefully, I can keep going tomorrow.”
Seventh-ranked Wyndham Clark, the reigning U.S. Open champion, sank a 17-foot eagle putt on the 12th hole and added four birdies in a 71 to sit one stroke back in solo third, while Will Zalatoris, who held a three-stroke lead at one point during the day, made four birdies on the front nine but had two double-bogeys on the back in a 71 and is two shots down in a tie for fourth with Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and Russell Henley, who both had two late birdies in their 72s.
Harris English made the last of his six birdies on the final hole in a 68 and is three down in solo seventh, while second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland collected six birdies on the back nine in a 68 and is four strokes down in a tie for eighth with eighth-ranked Max Homa of Valencia and Cal, who parred the last six holes for a 71, and Sam Burns, who birdied three of the first six holes in another 71.
Tenth-ranked Brian Harman, one of the 36-hole leaders, struggled to a 77 and is tied for 20th, while fourth-ranked Viktor Hovland of Norway stumbled to a 75 and is tied for 25th, sixth-ranked Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and Cal is tied for 31st after a 70, and fifth-ranked Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State made seven bogeys in a 76 and is tied for 44th.
For complete results and final-round tee times, visit: https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
