Scottie Scheffler wasn’t at his best again on Friday at Bay Hill, though he still managed to card a one-under 71.
He now sits ten shots back of leader Daniel Berger heading into the weekend.
Scheffler’s record here speaks for itself. He’s already got two Arnold Palmer Invitational wins under his belt, and the course suits him well.
Coming into the week, Scheffler’s swing looked sharp and in good shape. But over the first two rounds, he hasn’t looked all that comfortable on the course.
Frustration started to show late in his second round. On the 18th green, after taking three putts from just outside 24 feet, he couldn’t hide his annoyance.
Over the past year or so, Scheffler has become more vocal when things aren’t going his way.
Scottie Scheffler’s reaction to frustrations at Bay Hill
Scheffler has plenty of reasons to feel good about his chances at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which might explain why he appeared so annoyed on Friday – it’s likely more about not playing up to his own expectations.
After his outburst on the 18th green, Nick Dougherty and Wayne Riley of Sky Sports gave their thoughts.
“We remember what it was like when we were playing, he was angry on that last green,“ Dougherty said.
“It was an outburst on the green, mad as a wasp. “He’s literally stood here right by us now. He’s reset. Immediately, he comes out, he’s laughing and joking, talking to the media. What is it about his mentality, it’s different, isn’t it? Not all golfers are like that. What is it about him that allows him to mentally just have an edge on the rest?“
Riley responded: “I don’t know. I mean I really don’t know, he can just reset, go to his family. His dad’s out there, his mum’s out there. I mean, he can just go about his business and, you know, he makes hiccups like everyone does, and he’ll spit the dummy once in a while. Not very often. We don’t see anger too much but he can reset.”
Dougherty added: “He let it go already, didn’t he? It has already disappeared and what we do know is that Scottie Scheffler can charge across a weekend. He’s already shown that through this season.”
What Scottie Scheffler did well on day two at Bay Hill
Even though Scheffler wasn’t firing on all cylinders, Wayne Riley saw positives in his game.
“He drove the ball incredibly well,” Riley said.
“What was surprising was his wedge game was not what we’ve seen from Scottie Scheffler, and from the perfect spot, most of the time. So his distance control was out and thus the scoring to be way back in the pack.”
Scheffler ranked 12th in strokes gained off the tee but slipped to 34th in strokes gained approach. So, there’s work to do if he wants to close the gap this weekend.
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