ORLANDO, Fla. — One by one, players trudged off the 18th green at Bay Hill as they finished the final round on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational looking dazed and confused.
They looked and sounded defeated.
It was a wild day at Bay Hill, one that fit perfectly with the countless thrill rides at all the amusement parks in the area.
U.S. Open conditions broke out with the thick, gnarly rough and rock-hard, unforgivingly-slick greens coupled with a stiff breeze, and players weren’t handling it well. Everyone except for Scottie Scheffler.
Before Scheffler, 25, would emerge as the tournament winner, just weeks after he won his first career PGA Tour event, at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, his nearest competitors got tangled up in trouble that would sabotage their chances to win and leave them visibly frustrated afterward.
All along, Scheffler’s facial expression never changed.
It’s why Sunday with conditions mirroring that of a U.S. Open were a perfect fit for Scheffler, who’s not only built for difficult course conditions, he thrives in them.
It’s why it’ll be a mild upset if he doesn’t someday win a U.S. Open or two. His even-keel demeanor is the perfect antidote to the trouble U.S. Opens present.
When it was over and Scheffler had two-putted from 69 feet on the 18th green for par to finish on 5-under par, one clear of the field, Scheffler’s dad, Scott, stood outside the scoring trailer beaming when Billy Horschel’s 29-foot birdie putt missed on 18 and his son’s win was confirmed.
Scott Scheffler, who moved from New Jersey with his wife, Scottie and three daughters to Texas when the kids were young, still has a lot of Jersey in him.
“I hate to say it, but he is really good,” Scott Scheffler said. “I don’t know anything else to say. The kid just knows how to play. He’s just good at golf. He’s just really, really good at his job. We just stayed out of the way.”
It’s been quite a run for his son, who played in his first Ryder Cup in the fall (and successfully so), won his first PGA Tour event last month and now this.
A year ago, Scottie Scheffler was a really good golfer who was moving up the world rankings with high finishes but still was searching for his first win.
“He’s always been this way, taking time to settle in,” his dad said. “Everyone was saying, ‘Oh he can’t win, oh he can’t do this.’ He’s always been pretty good. Just let him be. He obviously has the head for the challenge.”
The head and the heart.
That’s why, while his competitors blinked on Sunday, he never flinched — even while hitting a poor drive on No. 15 under a tree and then clipping a branch with his second shot that went only 30 yards. All Scheffler did was bury a 22-foot par putt to stay in the chase.
That’s why, after another poor drive on the par-5 16th to a squirrelly lie and stance that caused a poor second shot and forced him to hit a wedge onto the green for a longish par-save putt, he made that one, too.
“It was U.S. Open conditions,’’ Scott Scheffler said. “He said it to me on Thursday. I asked, ‘What’s the defense of the course?’ He said, ‘The greens. Sunday, it’ll be a U.S. Open.’ ”
And that played perfectly into Scottie Scheffler’s hands.
“Scottie always has told me that he embraces a very, very hard challenge,’’ Scott Scheffler said.
“Deep down, whatever I’m doing, I’m really competitive in it,’’ Scottie Scheffler said. “My wife will tell me I’m competitive more playing board games or whatever we’re doing. So, when the conditions get really tough and the fields get really good, I get excited. I work hard, and being in these moments is really fun. I kind of like the challenge of harder golf courses and harder conditions.’’
Next up for Scheffler is this week’s Players Championship. Then the WGC Match Play. Soon after that, Augusta National, where Scheffler has to be considered a favorite after this run of golf he’s been on.
“We’re all going to take our family trip to Augusta,” Scott Scheffler said. “People go to Hawaii, we get to go to Augusta. And we’re going to drive again. We’re going to drive in Scottie’s 2012 Yukon with 170,000 miles on it.”
Scott Scheffler then took a breath as he was about to accompany the family to the 18th green for the winner’s ceremony.
“Believe me, I’m more than elated,’’ he said, taking in his son’s magical run. “How do you know?’’
You don’t.
Not until proof is served the way Scottie Scheffler delivered it Sunday at Bay Hill.