The Florida Swing is in full gear, and the PGA Tour just wrapped up the second of four events in the Sunshine State. The Arnold Palmer Invitational crowned a newly minted multi-time winner on the PGA Tour this past weekend and, as always, provided plenty of drama in one of the most difficult final rounds on tour in recent memory!

Scheffler’s Lucky Sunday

Scottie Scheffler needed 70 starts on the PGA Tour to win his first title at the Waste Management Phoenix Open this year, and he only needed 72 starts to add his second title. Luckily, Scheffler emerged from the bloodbath that was the Arnold Palmer Invitational’s Sunday round with his very own Arnold Palmer red sweater!

Sunday’s round felt more like the final round of the U.S. Open. The rough was long (5 inches in some places), the wind was gusting near 30 miles per hour, and the greens were running at an unbelievably 14.5 on the Stimpmeter. The scoring average for the field on Sunday’s round was 75.481—nearly five shots higher than any other tournament on the PGA Tour in the past 12 months!

Rory McIlroy was quoted as saying he felt “punch drunk, to be honest.” But that didn’t phase Scheffler as he ground out an even-par 72 to finish the tournament at -5 under par. The highlight of his round came on the 15th hole where he was in the pine straw, way left off the fairway, and barely advanced the ball 10 yards, and he hit his next shot on the green and made a clutch 20-footer and gutted out a fantastic par. It was the lowest winning total for any PGA Tournament since–you guessed it–the U.S. Open last year.

Since October, Scheffler has posted two wins, two second-place finishes, a fourth-place finish, and four other top 30 finishes in 11 events. He has climbed all the way to number four in the Official World Golf Rankings! Mix in an undefeated record at the Ryder Cup, and Scottie is quickly becoming one of the top young American players on Tour! I expect to see him add a major title to that resume before the end of this summer, but stay tuned for that later on!

The Top Players

Viktor Hovland, Billy Horschel, Tyrrell Hatton, Gary Woodland, Chris Kirk, and Talor Gooch rounded out the top 10. This was the last tournament on the PGA Tour to qualify for The Open Championship at The Old Course at St. Andrews this July. Talor Gooch and Chris Kirk were the lucky participants to grab those last qualifying spots!

What’s in Scheffler’s Bag?

Here is a quick look at what Scheffler has been playing to help him capture two titles in the past 30 days!

• Driver: Taylormade Stealth Plus (8 Degrees), Fujikura Ventus Black 7X Shaft

• Fairway Wood: Nike VR Pro (13.5 Degrees), Fujikura Atmos Black Tour Spec 8X Shaft
• Utility: Srixon Z U85, Nippon Pro Modus3 Hybrid Tour X

• Irons: Srixon ZX7 4-Iron, Taylormade P7TW (5-PW), True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Shafts

• Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (50-12F, 56-14F, 60-06K), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 Shafts

• Putter: Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless Tourtype GSS Tour Prototype
• Ball: Titleist ProV1

Stay tuned for additional PGA Tour coverage this week as the Tour moves up the Florida coast to Ponte Vedra Beach for The Players Championship—the unofficial fifth major! Also, with the conclusion of the Arnold Palmer yesterday, that means we are exactly one month (31 days) away from the start of the 2022 Masters and the unofficial kick-off of the 2022 golf season!