Shane Lowry (-6) has had a field day sinking putts on the greens of Bay Hill today and is leading a very tight Arnold Palmer Invitational after the first round. To start with, the Irishman nailed a thirteen-meter putt on hole 2. He then had the luxury of signing a five-under par in just four holes, from 10 to 13, sinking putts here and there from distances ranging from seven to ten meters. It’s certainly an interesting way to get one over on this wonderful course, the King’s house, Mr. Palmer’s, who was more captivated by the USGA profile, in terms of course preparation, than the exuberant birdie fairs.
And no, Bay Hill is not an unfair or ridiculous stage. It’s simply tough, resilient. As soon as you’re out of place, it penalises you. And it can become even tougher and more resilient this week if no water falls on this corner of Orlando and the greens gain firmness, as was Palmer’s usual roadmap, as is Jack Nicklaus’s in his tournament, the Memorial. These two legends always advocated preparing the courses with the primary objective of truly identifying the best player in all areas of the game.
That’s why, once again, this tournament is mouth-watering. There are still 54 holes ahead where anything can still happen. It can’t even be ruled out at this point that Rory McIlroy (+1) could get into the fight on Sunday. The world number 2, aspiring to the throne this week, has repeated the pattern of previous appointments: excellent stretches of play and some unfathomable lagoons. And the throne holder, Scottie Scheffler (-2), well, he has also followed the line of his entire 2024. Good, solid, but without fully squeezing the golf rounds, again dragged down on the greens (what a cross the Texan carries). Today he started by sinking some short putts, those that choke him so much, but his final balance on the greens was again very poor: 55th in the SG:Putting statistic. 55th out of 69 players, let’s not forget. No way, there’s no way.
One stroke behind Lowry are Hideki Matsuyama (-5), watch out for the unpredictable combustion capacity of the Japanese, winner of the last Signature Event at Riviera, and Justin Lower (-5), the Cinderella of the moment, with all due respect. And there, within a margin of two, three or four strokes, we also find Burns, Theegala, Zalatoris (who keeps peeking…), Thomas, Taylor, Straka, Scheffler, Harman, Spieth, Day, Min Woo Lee or Morikawa, among others. The one who was a bit lost today was Kurt Kitayama (+6), the defending champion. And tomorrow is cut day (the top fifty and ties pass, so maybe not even fifteen players are left out), as it should be and as Mr Palmer, Nicklaus and Woods demand.
