– How well the closing stretch of the third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational has gone for Akshay Bhatia (-12), which both he and the leader, Daniel Berger (-13), had to complete after Saturday’s suspension due to lack of light. And anyone who isn’t in Berger’s circle or among his supporters could also add: and how well it has gone for the tournament too…
– The Florida player remains the leader, but less so. Yesterday he went to bed with a two-shot lead over Bhatia and an eagle putt of about nine metres to be resolved on the resumption, and now, after the end of the third round was completed, he only has a one-shot lead. He had marked his ball on the 16th green, a par 5, and it must be said he was very close to holing his eagle putt, although he left there with the birdie in the bag and his homework done, three shots clear of Bhatia and five ahead of Straka, Young and Morikawa. Then the problems began. At the 17th, a par 3, Bhatia left himself a birdie chance and Berger sent his ball into the bunker, although he would save par and the Californian failed to hole. At the 18th the news broke: Berger missed the fairway and ended up making bogey, while Bhatia holed a four-metre putt for birdie and gave the tournament a small turn.
– The young Californian of Indian descent has become the first stone in Berger’s shoe and there, in Berger’s shoes, another pack of players now hope to get in and mix things up. Straka, Morikawa are due to start in a few hours four shots off the leader, a considerable deficit, but one that does not seem insurmountable, also because Berger’s wait to get back out on the course after the 18th mishap at Bay Hill could feel long…
– It doesn’t seem that Viktor Hovland (-5) can get into the group of contenders, but yesterday, Saturday, he completed an excellent 67, being one of the best before the downpour that forced the suspension, on those greens where the ball skidded rather than rolled. The Norwegian was happy, to be clear, but once again, in assessing his performance, he noted how poorly he had felt with the driver in his hands in that third round (and he has been feeling that generally every time he plays).
Let’s break down this habit Hovland has got into of always seeing the glass half empty. On the one hand, he has powerful reasons to think that: his historical tee statistics, in the halcyon days, are much better than the current ones, this year’s and even last season’s. That is beyond doubt. On the other hand, it increasingly feels like the Norwegian’s ultimate goal is to reach perfection, or come close to it, in every area of his game, rather than to win tournaments. And that way he never brings to an end the phase of ‘reconversion and rehabilitation’. It’s a matter of approach… And his does not seem the most satisfactory.
– Yesterday’s downpour noticeably changed the condition of the Bay Hill greens, which lost some firmness. Not only that: Scheffler became desperate because he felt the ball wasn’t running on the greens, but rather sliding, yet when play resumed he began to feel the blades under his feet (and under his putter) and immediately started holing putts. Mind you, when Scheffler won this tournament for the first time in 2022 the greens gave the same vertiginous sensation, especially over the weekend, and back then it went brilliantly for him…
– The question now is how the greens will be today, Sunday. And it will all depend on how much it rains. Because rain, according to the forecast, will fall. Water is expected, especially from four in the afternoon (local time), at which point the final groups will already have passed the midpoint of the final round, but will still have a good number of holes ahead. From here on, if enough rain really falls to seriously disrupt the condition of the greens, everyone must adapt as best they can…
– Bhatia, despite his youth (he turned 24 in January), has long been trying to prove to himself, and in the process to the world, that his game, as spectacular as it is sometimes inconsistent, is ready for the big challenges. And he has just been playing well at Phoenix (3rd), Pebble Beach (6th) and Riviera (16th). Let’s see if in the end he’ll be more than a pebble in the shoe. But we’re talking about golf and we’re talking about Bhatia, so it’s impossible to be certain a priori, until proven otherwise.
