On a day of tough conditions on Thursday, Christiaan Bezuidenhout held things together with a three-under-par 69 in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course in Orlando, Florida.
He made two birdies on each nine, and dropped a shot on the fifth as he ended the day in a share of second. He was one-stroke behind the leader, the 2023 US Open champion Wyndham Clark, and he shared second with Keegan Bradley of the United States, Canada’s Corey Conners and Irishman Shane Lowry.
His bogey came when he three putted from inside 30 feet in the only blemish on a solid day on the greens. As usual, his approach play was immaculate as he made 13 of 18 greens in regulation after hitting nine of 14 fairways.
Clark finished as a runner-up behind Scottie Scheffler last year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, albeit five shots adrift. The same 1-2 result played out one week later at The Players Championship. While Clark paced the 72-man field on a blustery day at Arnie’s place, oddsmakers still favour Scheffler with the defending champ four shots off the lead.
It was clear from the start that Bay Hill was going to be a beast with cold weather and big wind on a course with thick rough and putting surfaces that already had a yellow sheen to them. Only 14 players broke par, the fewest in 36 years at Bay Hill with an asterisk. This now is a Signature Event with only 72 players in the field, compared with 120.
Aldrich Potgieter, playing in his first-ever Signature Event, was one of the players who suffered at the hand of the conditions. He carded a seven-over-par 79 for a share of 65th, together with the likes of Billy Horschel and Akshay Bhatia.
