Golf

Lowry can only look on at masterclass by Scheffler at Bay Hill

The Offaly man secures solo third and maintains his momentum going into The Players at Sawgrass

Ireland's Shane Lowry hitting a tee shot on the first hole during his final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill golf course in Orlando, Florida. Photograph: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Ireland's Shane Lowry hitting a tee shot on the first hole during his final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill golf course in Orlando, Florida. Photograph: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images
Philip Reid
Sun Mar 10 2024 - 22:14

Not to be – again! – for Shane Lowry. Yet this time, he could only doff his cap to world number one Scottie Scheffler who, with a new mallet putter proving to be the most obedient club in his bag, produced a masterclass in striding to victory, and a $4 million payday, in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando.

A week after contending in the Cognizant Classic where he finished tied-fourth, Lowry – playing in the PGA Tour signature tournament on a sponsor’s exemption and making the most of that invitation – continued that momentum even if his quest for a first win on the PGA Tour since his 2019 Open was undone early on after a bogey-bogey start.

To Lowry’s credit, he didn’t let that horror start derail him. He stuck to the task at hand brilliantly, and while Scheffler made the win his alone, Lowry secured solo third – and a payday of $1.4 million – with a finishing 72 for 279.

The finish also earned the Offalyman valuable FedEx Cup points, moving him from 79th to 30th on the season’s order of merit standings and with further momentum to take into The Players at Sawgrass this week, which is the 50th anniversary of the PGA Tour’s flagship event.

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Lowry’s poor start put him on the back foot from the off: he drove into a fairway bunker on the first and was in rough on the second in the bogey-bogey start and then dropped another shot on the seventh after again finding rough off the tee. But he responded well with birdies on the ninth, 15th and 16th to sign for a 72 for what was his best ever finish at Bay Hill where traditionally he has struggled.

“I think it’s great progress for me over the last few weeks. We’ve got a great stretch of tournaments coming up, it’s nice to be playing some good golf,” said Lowry.

Scheffler, in truth, was imperious with a closing 66 for 273 – his first win on the tour since The Players all of 51 weeks ago – that gave him a five-stroke winning margin over runner-up Wyndham Clark.

“I didn’t look at many leaderboards, just kept in my own space . . . . I played well,” said Scheffler, who defends his Players title at Sawgrass this week and strengthened his position as world number one, a position he has held since last May.

For Rory McIlroy any prospect of a final round charge unravelled with a disastrous front nine of 41 – three bogeys and a double bogey – which he at least managed to repair somewhat on a homeward run of 35 (three birdies and a bogey) in ultimately signing for a 76 and a total of 287, which left him in tied-21st.

“His ball striking is, honestly, on another level compared to everyone else right now. We knew if he started to hole putts then this sort of stuff would happen,” said McIlroy of Scheffler’s return to winning ways, a move helped by switching to the mallet putter in place of the blade which he has traditionally used.

McIlroy may have finished well adrift of Scheffler but felt it was “another great week” off the tee. As he put it afterwards, “I feel like I found a good feeling with the putting as well. I putted well the last three days. Just the iron play’s let me down. It’s sort of been the same story the last few weeks, sort of struggling with a left miss with the irons and it’s hard because the longer clubs, the woods, feel so good and then the irons don’t really feel that good, so I feel like I’m having to put like two different swings on the woods and the irons at the minute, which is a struggle. But everything else feels pretty good, so if I can get the irons tightened up I feel like I’ll be in a good spot.”

Séamus Power finished with a 72 – in a very adventurous round that featured four birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey – to also be tied-21st alongside McIlroy.

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Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times