2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational : A new putter for a new and happiest Scottie Scheffler

The 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational was not the best example of the “devalued product” the PGA Tour offers, according to its critics. The Bay Hill Classic, the fourth Signature Event of the season, gave us everything you would expect from a good golf tournament, including historic performances.

Beyond the obvious and respectable mention of Arnie in his title, the 2024 edition of the Arnold Palmer Invitational had a first and last name: Scott Alexander Scheffler. Scottie played a tournament of the highest caliber, drawing praise from all corners of the golf world.

Scottie Scheffler won the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational with a score of 15 under, five strokes ahead of runner-up Wyndham Clark. Scheffler’s performance included one eagle, 20 birdies and seven bogeys.

To win his second title at Bay Hill (he previously won in 2022), Scheffler was again the most integral player in the field, gaining a total of 16.5 strokes (leader). He was also the best ball striker, gaining 5.05 strokes off the tee (leader), hitting 50 of 72 greens in regulation (69.44%, 2nd) and gaining 3.312 strokes approaching the green (12th).

But it was his putting (yes, Scottie Scheffler’s putting) that was the main storyline of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Scheffler showed up with a new putter in his bag (a TaylorMade Spider Tour X) and made such a radical change swinging it that you can’t even believe it by looking at the stats. You have to see it playing live.

Scheffler led the field in putts per green in regulation (1.58), gained 4.347 strokes with the putter in his hands (5th) and used 27 putts per round (6th). His performance surpassed outstanding to reach record mode.

Adding the last seven holes of the third round to the first two of the fourth, Scheffler set a personal record for one-putt holes (9). In addition, he did not 3-putt any of the 72 holes and went 16-for-16 on putts inside 10 feet during the final round.

Scheffler winning an important tournament is not exactly news. The kid has already won one major (The Masters, 2022) and three high-profile events (The PLAYERS in 2023, the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2022 and 2023 and the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in 2022). It worth nothing to remember that he has also won the Phoenix Open twice (2022 – 2023) and the (unofficial) Hero World Challenge (2023).

According to CBS journalist Kyle Porter, from January 1, 2022 to date, Scottie Scheffler has 50 starts, 8 wins, 3 missed cuts, 33 top 10s, 21 top 3s, 5 top 10s in majors and 119 rounds in the 60s. As if it wasn’t enough, he scores 520 under par for that span, and has earned $41.8 million.

Is that impressive or what…?

What else happened at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational?

Since watching a Scheffler solo might have been a little boring, a little bit of everything happened at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Let’s review some of the more interesting ones.

Rory Mcilroy became the first player (on PGA Tour records) to drive the green on the par-4, 390-yard 10th hole at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. The Northern Irishman accomplished the feat during the third round when his 365-yard drive landed on the edge of the rough and rolled several feet to the green.

Tommy Fleetwood and Jake Knapp starred in their own unintentional version of ‘Tin Cup’, both playing the 6th hole. The Englishman carded a 10 on the hole during the second round to see his hopes of making the cut dashed, while the American had to sign for a 12 on the same hole.

As if a controversial play was not enough, Wyndham Clark touched his ball while setting up for his second shot on the 18th hole of the third round, setting off a tsunami of commentary. Event officials determined that the play was legal because while Clark’s wedge did touch the ball, it did not leave its original spot.

The truth is that if the play had been ruled illegal, Clark would have received a penalty stroke (Rule 9.4.b), which would have moved Shane Lowry into a tie for second place with Clark himself.