2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational leaderboard, scores: Scottie Scheffler among six tied for lead after Round 2

The 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational may not be a major championship, but don’t tell the top of the leaderboard that. Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry and Russell Henley all share the 36-hole lead at Bay Hill Club & Lodge at 7 under after the second-round action on Friday.  

It appeared Lowry would be alone in the lead throughout most of the day, but late charges from the likes of Clark and Scheffler helped make it a crowded party atop the leaderboard. The reigning U.S. Open champion rattled off five birdies in his last six holes to get to 7 under, one group ahead of Scheffler.

After playing his first 11 holes in even par, Scheffler chipped in for eagle on the par-5 12th to get things going. The big bird was followed with a pair of pars before a turkey of birdies from Nos. 15-17. Scheffler faced a 20-foot birdie bid on the last to push his name past the rest, but he ultimately settled for par and a six-way share of the lead heading into what will surely be a difficult weekend.

“I did a good job of staying patient,” said Scheffler. “The golf course was getting really challenging late in the day. The greens got extremely firm and tough to play because they’re basically dead at this point in the week … It’s part of the set up of this golf course and how they always set it up. It was pretty challenging out there, especially late in the day.”

With Bay Hill already firming up and inclement weather forecasted to miss the golf course on Saturday, conditions will only get firmer and faster from here on out. This will favor those in control of their game their emotions over what will be a fun weekend (for us) at Arnie’s place.

The leaders

T1. Scottie Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama, Shane Lowry, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Russell Henley (-7)

Cries of stars needing to show up have been met halfway through this tournament as five of the six leaders have all won a major championship since 2019. It’s interesting to see how each of these players arrived in a share of first: Scheffler leads the field from tee to green (shocker), Harman ranks second on approach, Lowry has been brilliant throughout the bag and Henley leads the way in terms of strokes gained putting with Clark in second and Matsuyama in fourth. 

Who emerges from this pack is anyone’s guess. If Harman or Scheffler start to make more putts, they are probably the favorites, but we have seen the winning upside of Clark and Matsuyama recently. What is known is Bay Hill will dry out and provide a great stage for these guys to duke it out.

“Tomorrow’s supposed to have some wind and be hot, so it’s going to get firmer and faster, which it’s already doing, into the greens, so even par tomorrow would be fantastic,” said Clark. “Then it looks like maybe a little rain on Sunday, so it might ease up. But, yeah, I mean, if you, right now, if you said, hey, you shoot 3 under on the weekend, I would take it, because I think that would have a really good chance on the last couple holes.”

Other contenders

7. Will Zalatoris (-6)T8. Emiliano Grillo, Stephan Jaeger (-5)T10. Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Viktor Hovland, Sam Burns, Sahith Theegala, Byeong Hun An, Nick Taylor (-4)

A major championship-like leaderboard has materialized through two rounds with major champs like Scheffler, Clark, Harman, Lowry and Matsuyama leading with Thomas not far behind. While not a major championship winner, Zalatoris has made it clear in his young career that his game translates to some of the most difficult golf courses around the world. 

In 10 major appearances, Zalatoris has already accumulated six top 10s including three runner-up results.

This week, Zalatoris ranks third in ball striking and continues to look more and more like his normal self. After a sluggish start to his injury comeback, the 27-year-old finished his West Coast swing with a T13 at Torrey Pines and a T2 result at Riviera. 

“I think [I love] the patience aspect of it [difficult golf courses the most],” said Zalatoris. “I’ve always been known for my ball striking, which obviously helps when you’re playing a really tough golf course. Just hit it to 30 feet all day, try to maybe get a couple that get in there closer, maybe make a bonus putt or something like that and try to take advantage of the par 5s. You’re going to make mistakes, that’s just the reality of a hard golf course like this, so if you make bogeys, don’t try to press.”

Big numbers plentiful at Bay Hill

The golf course will only get more difficult as the week progresses, and Friday showed signs of what this weekend may bring. Numerous players struggled around Bay Hill with Tommy Fleetwood, Adam Svensson and Collin Morikawa failing to break 80. Fleetwood and Svensson both fell victim to the par-5 6th where the Englishman needed 10 strokes to complete the treacherous hole. Two-time major champion Morikawa experienced more of a slow bleed out the gates playing his first eight holes in a 7-over fashion.

Notable scores in Round 2

“This course, like you said, you see with those scores, it can get away from you quite quickly,” said Lowry. “I said it here yesterday, it’s the type of course where you get on a run, you feel like you can birdie every hole, but then it starts getting away from you, you feel like you’re never gonna make a par out here. So, yeah, it’s that type of course.”

Arnold Palmer Invitational updated odds, picks

Odds via Sportsline Consensus

It’s a true “choose your fighter” situation. If you can stomach Scheffler’s putter for 36 holes, then he’s probably your preferred option. If winning upside is your flavor of the month, then recent winners like Matsuyama and Clark may be the best option. I may suggest someone a few strokes back in Thomas at 30-1. He is continuing to strike his irons beautifully, and if a few putts drop, then he will surely factor come the back nine Sunday.

Rick Gehman and Mark Immelman recap Round 2 of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.