ORLANDO, Fla. – Based on his track record, Shane Lowry was as surprised as anybody to be doing media at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“It’s horrific,” Lowry said of his record at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, breaking into a laugh. “My best finish here is tied 67th or something.”
So how does he explain shooting 6-under 66 to grab the first round lead at the signature event?
“I have no idea,” said Lowry, laughing again, and well aware that he had posted his first sub-70 score in 13 rounds at Bay Hill. “I played here six times, I missed the cut five times. Last year I made the cut and shot 80 on Saturday and finished 67th or something around there. Going out there with very low expectations today. I knew I was playing well. Golf’s a funny game. Just had it under control today.”
Lowry, who is a MasterCard ambassador received a sponsor invite (MasterCard is the presenting sponsor), and held the 54-hole lead at the Cognizant Classic at the Palm Beaches, before shooting a final-round 71 and settling for a T-4 finish.
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The Irishman didn’t like Florida golf initially, but he set up camp in the Sunshine State beginning in 2015 and has made his base here full time the last few years and has changed his tune.
“Bermuda grass is not for me, I thought,” he said. “When I moved down to Florida and started playing more and more, week in, week out on the stuff, it’s, I figured out a way to do it and, yeah, I quite enjoy Florida golf now.”
He quite enjoyed the start of the back nine at Bay Hill on Thursday. Beginning at the 10th, he played the next four holes in 5 under. That included a 35-foot birdie putt at No. 11 and chipping in for eagle at No. 12. He became the first player since at least 1983 (when the Tour started keeping official records) to play that stretch in four three’s.
“You get on a run like that it does feel pretty easy,” Lowry said.
Rain earlier this week have made the greens a bit more receptive, and the lack of wind resulted in lower scoring on opening day at Arnie’s Place, though no one went too low — it marked the first time no player recorded a score of 65 or better in the first round of a Tour event since the 2023 British Open.
“This is as benign as I’ve seen it for a while,” Lowry said, “but I’ve never had the mindset to go out and get Bay Hill, Bay Hill usually gets me.”
Here are four more things to know after the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Justin Lower hits his drive on the tenth tee during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
After being one of the last players to qualify for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Justin Lower played in the mold of the tournament’s namesake, sprinkling seven birdies on his card en route to a 5-under 67 at Bay Hill Club & Lodge on Thursday and a shot off the first-round lead.
Lower (rhymes with Power), a 34-year-old pro who once missed an 8-foot putt to earn his PGA Tour card for the first time, played his way into the field through the Aon Swing 5, one of the pathways into signature events. The top five points earners between signature stretches get spots in the next signature event. Lower rode a career-best T-3 finish at the Mexico Open at Vidanta two weeks ago into a spot in the 69-man limited field at Arnie’s Place with a $20 million purse and elevated FedEx Cup points. Lower had to sweat it out on Monday, waiting for David Skinns to miss a 13-foot birdie effort at 18 at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches before his place in the field this week was secure.
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“It was kind of nerve wracking,” Lower said. “Trust me, I was looking at the tracker pretty religiously there for a little bit.”
Lower has a bit of a connection to Palmer, having won the Arnold Palmer Award in 2010 for NAIA players while competing at Malone University. And then there was the time he volunteered at the 2002 Senior PGA Championship at Firestone Country Club and was standing left of the eighth green when Palmer pulled his shot there.
“It hit some guy standing next to me. I’m from here to that leaf from Arnold’s ball, and he comes up, and he’s like, ‘Did it hit anyone?’ And the guy’s like, ‘Yeah, it hit me.’ And he’s like, ‘It will grow back though.’ And Arnold got a big kick out of that,” Lower recalled. “He kind of looked at it, and it was a tough shot over a bunker, and he goes, ‘Does anyone want to hit this shot?’ And I was, 2003, I was 13, maybe 14 at the time, and I stepped right up, I was like, ‘I’ll hit it.’ And I had my hand on his wedge, and this huge hand out of nowhere just comes back and he grabs me and he’s like, ‘Don’t worry, son, I’ll take it from here.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, OK, go ahead.’”
Hideki Matsuyama hits his drive on the first tee during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama is making his first start since closing with 62 at Riviera to win the Genesis Invitational and picked up right where he left off, carding 5-under 67 on Thursday. The highlight reel shot was a chip in from 50 feet for eagle at 16. It was quite the bounce back after a double chip on 15 that led to one of his two back-nine bogeys.
“It wasn’t like a difficult lie or anything, just hit it in the air,” Matsuyama said through an interpreter. “I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, it hit.’ I wasn’t sure if that was a penalty or not, but I asked the caddie, and he mentioned it’s not a penalty, so I was able to keep my game going.”
Matsuyama lead the field in proximity to the hole (20 feet, 4 inches) and ranked third in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green.
Sahith Theegala lines up his putt on the sixth green during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Sahith Theegala’s short game was straight fire on Thursday. The former Pepperdine standout chipped in twice and gained nearly 4 strokes around the green en route to shooting 4-under 68, T-4 with Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Lee Hodges.
It marked Theegala’s eighth round of 68 or better this season, and according to golf data analyst Rick Gehman, Theegala recorded the best SG: Around the Green round of 2024 by any player.
The first chip in was coming in hot but it dropped for eagle at 12.
“I’ll say 12 was a little lucky, a little two bouncer, it was probably going to be 15 feet by,” he said. “That’s always a bonus.”
The second chip in, from what he termed a much easier lie, dripped in at 15.
“I didn’t really make a whole lot, other than the chips, I didn’t make any putts, but I guess those kind of count,” Theegala said.
Rory McIlroy plays his shot from the seventh tee during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Sam Burns entered the week with four consecutive top 10s and posted 68.
Jordan Spieth overcame three consecutive bogeys beginning at No. 7 to shoot 69. “These greens have fooled me since I arrived here on Monday, with how kind of they seem glassy and fast, and they’re just not yet,” he said.
Justin Thomas also shot 69. Asked what part of his game has improved this season, he said, “Literally everything.”
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World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot 2-under 70 but struggled with his new mallet putter, losing more than 1 1/2 strokes to the field on the greens and ranked 55th in SGP.
Rory McIlroy was even worse with the short stick. He took 32 putts and lost more than 3 strokes on the green, ranking No. 66 of 69 in the field in SGP.
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