The third day of Arnold Palmer Invitational It hasn’t exactly been a massacre (sometimes, in the previous hours, we get out of hand with dramatic nouns, we must admit), but it hasn’t strayed too far from the planned guidelines either, since the leadership started from a record -9 and has remained at -7, passing from the hands of Viktor Hovland (-6) to those of Billy Horschel (-7) and Talor Gooch (-7). This fact, in a tournament with players of such a high level, is more than conclusive and certainly gives off a certain aroma of US Open.
The average number of strokes was 74 strokes (74.07), for the more than 75 strokes on Friday afternoon, but make no mistake: Bay Hill, in fact, has been played in this third round even more difficult, which What happens is that on Friday we still had 120 players in contention and, therefore, the entire caboose in which every week the golfers who are playing the worst and who greatly raise the averages with their bulky cards are clustered.
The wind has blown, as the reports warned, and the greens have remained firm and vertiginous (the one on the 18th hole was almost scary to see; because it didn’t have any, it hardly had any grass). And it is not necessary to search too much to find some illustrious victims, starting with Hovland himself, who today delivered a cardboard of 75 hits, after he got to get -10. And continuing through the McIlroy (-3, return of 76), Hatton (-1, return of 78) or Casey (+2, return of 77). Let’s say that the big favorites have been slaughtered, although some of them, like Hovland or McIlroy himself, still have room to maneuver to return on Sunday.
It was also noted that Bay Hill It would still leave some doors ajar for the gamers of the day (up to 16 players have dropped below par). Or for those who start plugging in from all corners, if you want to see it that way. And so it has happened. Gary Woodland (-4), for example, a matchmate of Jon Rahm (PAR), has entered the fight for the victory with a return of 70 shots, while the Spaniard has fallen behind with his card of 74. Jon continues without plugging in too much and, furthermore, he also does not find a way for something to happen that really starts the lap. Two others who have come from behind, swelling with fish in the churning river, have been Chris Kirk (-3) and Scottie Scheffler (-5), both authors of the best result of the day, card of 68 hits.
Be very careful, in any case, because tomorrow the wind will also blow, although it will not reach today’s gusts, around 40 kilometers per hour, and the greens and rough will continue to cause numerous and very annoying headaches. It would not be so strange, therefore, if the winning result stayed where it is right now. From here, let each one do numbers. We must insist: if he looks at himself with a cool head, it still seems to us that Rahm has stayed too far away; maybe he needed a 65 to give himself some option, coming from where he comes from, and this field isn’t enough to sell this bike. In any case, even playing just one under par tomorrow he could crack the top ten…
At the moment, the objective data rules and these dictate that Horschel and Gooch, the components of the main match on Sunday, have more options than anyone. In 27 of the last 26 editions of the Arnold Palmer, a player who came out of the top 5 has won on Sunday.
Horschel gave himself a final tribute by sinking a putt of more than eight meters in the 18th to rise up to the co-leadership. He’s crafty, experienced and tough like few others… Gooch is facing probably the biggest round of golf of his career to date. He has come to this event as number 4 in the Fedex Cup, so many and varied things he will be doing well, in addition to winning for the first time on the PGA Tour a few months ago, at the start of the season.
It doesn’t appear in the top ten in too many statistics this year, but it does in one in particular, which measures how close the ball leaves the hole after the first putt… Needless to say, on the greens of Bay Hill this ability or virtue, this mettle, may be of vital importance tomorrow.
Meanwhile, from a second row that is no longer second, but rather first, a certain Scottie Scheffler, brave and carefree kicker if any, licks his lips. Just three weeks ago he opened his locker of victories in Phoenix… And here he is again. Watch out for him.
