Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard: Five things to know heading into Sunday at Bay Hill

ORLANDO, Fla. – A signature Sunday is ready at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, with Daniel Berger holding a two-shot lead over Akshay Bhatia with three holes left to end in his third spherical,

after heavy rain suspended play for over an hour Saturday.

To get you ready for an early begin at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, listed below are 5 things to know earlier than the ultimate spherical:

Berger’s again to his greatest

At instances, it has seemed like Daniel Berger has been enjoying a special golf course. The easy-going Floridian is true at house at Bay Hill and has not often put a foot fallacious at one of many TOUR’s hardest venues. When he has, he hasn’t compounded the errors, solely making three bogeys all week.

Berger, who will begin Sunday with a 33-foot eagle putt on the par-5 sixteenth, has been considerably plagued by accidents throughout his skilled profession. Two main setbacks have seen him miss a lot of the final 4 seasons on the PGA TOUR. At final 12 months’s BMW Championship, a freak shot noticed Berger break his proper ring finger.

“The finger that I broke and where I broke it actually ended up being more of a pain in the butt than I thought it was going to be,” he stated Thursday. “I thought it would be just like four, five weeks and it turned out to be three months.”

Before the finger damage, Berger spent nearly 18 months away from the sport coping with decrease again issues, which sidelined him for the entire of 2023. At the time, he was nineteenth on the planet, a part of a record-setting U.S. Ryder Cup Team simply months earlier and was coming off his most constant season on TOUR.

Now he’s returning to full well being, the four-time PGA TOUR winner is returning to the Berger of outdated, eyeing the largest victory of his profession.

Can Bhatia make a big-time breakthrough?

How large may Bhatia’s late birdie-spree on Saturday night time prove to be?

The two-time TOUR winner elected to try his up-and-down for birdie after the horn had blown to shrink Berger’s lead to simply two. He did so within the darkness and adjusted his mindset heading into Sunday.

“Birdieing those two holes obviously is great. Fifteen is a bonus. Sixteen is kind of a must, with Daniel having 25 feet there,” Bhatia stated Saturday night. “So again, yeah, just need to keep doing what I’m doing. It’s fun to be in the hunt. I told Joe (Greiner), it’s like just what an amazing job we have, just to be able to, I mean, this is my workday, and so just very blessed to be in this position.”

Bhatia has travelled a special path from most of his friends his age. He bypassed school, electing to discover his method on mini excursions, slowly working his method onto the Korn Ferry Tour after which the PGA TOUR. He earned his first victory in 2023 at the Barracuda Championship after which collected his second rapidly after in a playoff at the Valero Texas Open the next 12 months.

Now, at simply 23 years outdated, Bhatia is positioned to make a run at a Signature Event breakthrough and the largest of what’s shaping up to be a protracted profession.

Scheffler lurked, then Bay Hill bit again … once more

Ever heard the outdated golf saying “a tale of two nines”? Well, when you hadn’t, Scottie Scheffler actually lived it on Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, earlier than Bay Hill’s ending gap all however ended his hopes for the second day in a row.

Scheffler was visibly annoyed ending his second spherical with a three-putt bogey and tossing his ball into the lake lining the proper facet of Bay Hill’s nearer. His destiny continued into Saturday, opening the third spherical at 3 over par earlier than making the flip.

After a much-needed break thanks to Mother Nature, Scheffler confirmed indicators of his normal self, carding 5 birdies in six holes on the again 9, giving himself a glimmer of hope heading into the closing stretch.

A poor drive on the 18th discovered Scheffler within the thickest of tough to the proper facet of the golf green and a frightening strategy over water to discover the inexperienced. Even because the world’s greatest participant, Scheffler was unable to muscle his wedge shot far sufficient to make the carry, together with his ball once more discovering a watery grave.

Scheffler’s actually had Sunday comebacks, most notably at THE PLAYERS Championship, the place he began the ultimate spherical 5 pictures behind earlier than profitable, however at 10 pictures again, this one could also be out of the query.

Has Saturday’s bathe formed Sunday at Bay Hill?

Just because the third spherical was heating up, the climate had different concepts. A small however heavy rain cell made its method north over Bay Hill, dumping nearly 1 / 4 of an inch of water in a few 15-minute interval on the grounds of Arnie’s place. But how will Saturday’s showers form the way in which Bay Hill will play come Sunday afternoon?

If there have been examples of how otherwise the course performed on Saturday after the rain, look no additional than Cameron Young, who rattled off 4 birdies in a row after the restart to transfer himself firmly into rivalry at Arnie’s place.

“So it kind of went from, you know, what we know Bay Hill for on the weekend to just, you know, a notch below that,” stated Young on the problem of greens.

Hitting the fairways will nonetheless be a premium as properly, with the added moisture making the tough play its thickest all week. But, because the day goes on Sunday, count on the greens to return to their related slickness.

“The greens were definitely a little slower, a little more receptive,” Sepp Straka stated after a third-round 66 additionally has him 4 pictures behind Berger’s lead. “(They) started to dry out a little bit towards the end of the day. I mean, there’s no moisture in there, so I think that’s going to run right through and they will be nice and firm tomorrow again.”

When will we see McIlroy once more?

McIlroy was seen on-site at Bay Hill, forward of his tee time, trying to heat up on the vary, however things worsened for the Northern Irishman, who developed muscle spasms in his decrease again.

The query now’s, will McIlroy be match sufficient to defend THE PLAYERS subsequent week? It wouldn’t be the primary time he’s been unable to defend certainly one of his greater victories on TOUR. McIlroy missed out on The Open Championship in 2015 at “The Home of Golf” after rupturing a ligament in his left ankle whereas enjoying soccer earlier than his scheduled title defence at St. Andrews.

No phrase but from the world No. 2, however he is nonetheless slated to tee it up subsequent week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.