Golfbet Recap: Scottie Scheffler rekindles putter, returns to winner’s circle at Bay Hill

Warning: Scottie Scheffler can putt.

The No. 1 player in the world added to his resume on Sunday at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard for the second time in three years. It was Scheffler’s first win of the 2024 season and the seventh of his young career.

While the rest of the field tried to catch him, Scheffler looked almost effortless while separating himself with a bogey-free round of 66 to finish at 15-under and win this Signature Event by five shots over U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark.

Scheffler odds to win Arnold Palmer Invitational (via BetMGM Sportsbook)

• Pre-tournament: +700
• Entering Round 2 (trailed by 4): +800
• Entering Round 3 (co-leader): +250
• Entering Round 4 (co-leader): +150

Clark began the day one shot off the lead and priced at +650 to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, seeking his second Signature Event win of the season and third of his career. Scheffler began the day as the favorite at +150, tied for the lead with Shane Lowry at 9-under. Both Scheffler and Clark birdied the opening hole and it looked like a match was in the making.

But by the time he reached the 12th tee box, Scheffler had built a five-shot lead over Clark and was -5000 to win the golf tournament. It was not long after this that BetMGM took Scheffler off the board and was now only offering odds on who would finish second. Scheffler felt to me like Larry Bird at the 3-Point Shooting Contest, asking his fellow competitors, “Which one of you guys is playing for second?”

Pre-tournament outright picks from Golfbet Experts

• Ben Everill: Jason Day (+3300) -- T36
• Will Gray: Max Homa (+2200) -- T8
• Chris Breece: Rory McIlroy (+900) -- T21
• Matt DelVecchio: Sam Burns (+2200) -- T30
• Rob Bolton: Scottie Scheffler (+700) -- WIN
• Mike Glasscott: Scottie Scheffler (+700) -- WIN

I mentioned the putter. For the third day in a row, Scheffler gained strokes on the field with the flat stick – and it only got progressively better. He gained over half a stroke on the field on Friday, over 1.5 strokes on Saturday, and was ranked No. 1 in the field on Sunday, gaining over four shots on the field. The now two-time champ at Bay Hill had 11 one-putts on Sunday. His 66 was the low round of the day and one of only four rounds shot in the 60s of the 58 players in the field.

Courtesy of golf stats and trends maven Justin Ray, this is just the second time since the 2023 U.S. Open that Scheffler has strung together three straight days in a tournament of gaining strokes on the field with the putter. If this type of run with the flat stick continues for the world’s greatest ball-striker, look out.

For the first time this season, the shortest-priced player on the odds board, pre-tournament, went on to win the golf tournament. Scheffler went off as the favorite at BetMGM at +700. Prior to this week, Jake Knapp was the shortest-priced winner of the season at +4000.

Among the other notables, former Open champion Lowry recorded his second straight top-5 finish – and Will Zalatoris, with his fourth-place finish, has secured a spot in this summer’s Open Championship at Royal Troon. Zalatoris has now finished top 5 in two straight Signature Events. Wyndham Clark now has two wins and a runner-up in Signature Events over the last two seasons.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Next up on TOUR is the 50th edition of THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach as we hit week three of the Florida Swing. Undoubtedly, the favorite next week will once again be Scheffler – who by the way, is the defending champion. If the excellent putting continues, to go along with his elite ball-striking, who is going to beat him? After what we saw on Sunday in Orlando, I don’t have an answer.

Rob Bolton Sleeper Picks and Golfbet Insider results

• Luke List to win (+10000) -- 56th
• Sahith Theegala Top 5 (+700) -- T6
• Keegan Bradley Top 10 (+350) -- T36
• Taylor Moore Top 20 (+250) -- T48
• Corey Conners Top Rest of World (+1200) -- T18
• Kurt Kitayama Top 20 (+160) -- MC
• Justin Thomas Top 10 (+220) -- T12
• Byeong-Hun An Top 20 (+125) -- T8
• Christiaan Bezuidenhout Top 20 (+220) -- T44
• Si Woo Kim Top 20 (+160) -- T30
• Adam Svensson Top 30 (+105) -- MC
• Nick Taylor Top 30 (-105) -- T12
• Erik van Rooyen Top 20 (+170) -- T25

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