Scottie Scheffler has not found himself further down the field for strokes gained approach in a PGA Tour event since 2022 than he did this past week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
It proved to be an underwhelming week at Bay Hill for Scheffler. The world number one registered his worst result of the year as he finished tied for 24th in Florida.
Scheffler failed to break 70 in an event for the first time since last year’s US Open at Oakmont. Meanwhile, he had a poor week with his irons.
Scottie Scheffler’s usually reliable iron play let him down at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Scheffler actually suggested that he was happy with his iron play after Sunday’s final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The 29-year-old went into the week 57th for strokes gained approach on the PGA Tour at the start of 2026. However, he has fallen down to 88th after losing more than 2.7 shots to the field with his iron play at Bay Hill.
That left him in 44th for the week. And, as reported by Justin Ray on X, it is the first time Scheffler has been that low for a 72-hole tournament since The Players Championship in 2022.
He wrote: ‘Scottie Scheffler finished the week at Bay Hill ranked 44th in the field in strokes gained approach.
‘It’s his worst field ranking in that statistic in a tournament measured for all 72 holes since the 2022 Players.’
Scheffler has left the door open for his rivals once again as The Masters looms
It is remarkable to think that Scheffler did actually win at Bay Hill that year. In fact, he would go on to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and The Masters within a few weeks of finishing tied for 55th at TPC Sawgrass.
Scheffler would also respond by winning on his next two trips to the PGA Tour’s flagship event.
With that, it definitely seems to be too soon to panic about Scheffler’s form. He had not finished outside the top 12 before this past week in 2026.
However, given the standards that Scheffler has set in recent years, it is concerning to see him seemingly going backwards so close to The Masters. It already feels an incredibly long time ago that he won The American Express to kick off his season.
Scheffler will figure it out at some stage. But for the second year running, he has given his rivals hope that he is not invincible.
