Xander Schauffele shot a five-over 77 on day one of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. The world number three is making only his second appearance in 2025 after returning from injury.
Schauffele returned to action in the TGL last week after being impacted by a side strain. The two-time major winner played the season-opener at The Sentry whilst nursing the problem. Thankfully, the issue appears to be behind the American now.
Unsurprisingly, Schauffele was rusty during his opening 18 at Bay Hill, and the extremely testing conditions did not help. Strong winds and firm greens meant scoring was at a premium, and mistakes were severely punished.
For Schauffele, however, ramping up tournament rounds ahead of The Masters is the priority, and the 31-year-old delivered a positive one-word answer when asked about his injury post-round.
Xander Schauffele says how he’s feeling after round one of the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Schauffele was asked: “How are you feeling physically?” He replied: “Great.”
The world number three then detailed some of the issues he faced on the greens during the first round at Bay Hill.
“Yeah, just not really seeing lines, not playing enough break, not giving enough respect to certain holes. Tried hard to prepare, but it really – as the wind laid down, I was hitting some nice shots, and, you know, that’s what I was more used to,” Schauffele said.
Xander Schauffele drops verdict on Bay Hill
As mentioned, Bay Hill provided an extremely tough test on Thursday, and Schauffele has picked a challenging event to return to.
“Yeah, it was, you know, got my a** kicked (smiling) yeah, it’s a tough place to come back to, not going to lie. Palm Springs would have been nice, something like that, that would have been a little bit easier, miss a couple, get a way with it,” Schauffele added.
“I knew a bit of a masochist, I guess. I knew I was going to come in on short notice to what is sort of like a major championship setup around the greens, and with the greens being crusty, I really felt it there more than anything else.”
Wyndham Clark sets pace at Arnold Palmer Invitational
Schauffele is ten shots back of first-round leader Wyndham Clark. The 2023 US Open champ carded a five-under 67 and sits two shots clear of USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley.
Bradley (three under) is in a four-way tie for second alongside Corey Connors, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Shane Lowry.
Rory McIlroy is two under, and USA stars Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Thomas are all one under.
Scheffler faced the worst conditions on Thursday and is well-positioned to take advantage of an afternoon tee time on Friday. Scheffler’s ability to avoid serious trouble could stand him in good stead this week.
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