ORLANDO, Fla. – Get ready for carnage!
Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge is set up to bring the 51 pros and one amateur to their knees this weekend over the final 36 holes of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Justin Thomas won’t be among them after shooting 14-over 158 and finishing dead last in the field of 72 but took solace that he won’t have to putt greens that the band Procol Harum would say are becoming a lighter shade of pale.
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“There is zero chance that they aren’t going to be gone. They are so dead already,” Thomas said of the greens. “That’s one good thing about not playing this weekend because it’s going to suck, it’s going to be really hard.”
But that’s also the way Palmer always wanted his course to play at his eponymous tournament and his grandson, former Tour pro Sam Saunders, has picked up the torch.
“We get the course running firm and fast, which has become the identity of Bay Hill, and there’s nothing that identifies the best player at the highest level better than firm and fast conditions,” Saunders told Golfweek. “It means you have to drive the ball in the fairway, you have to hit greens with good iron shots and your short game better be sharp if you get out of position. When the course is soft, it can become a putting contest and I never think of Bay Hill that way. It’s a course that tests all parts of your game.”
On Friday, the grumbling began with Collin Morikawa, who is T-3 after 71, providing the color scale for the greens, or shall we say browns for now.
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“They’re getting brown and they’re going to be very, very brown, if not purple, by Sunday, and that’s just part of this week,” he said.
Asked if they typically turn from green to yellow to brown to purple, he said, “Pretty much. Yeah, that’s the color scale that we tend to see.”
“I definitely see them letting it bake out this weekend,” said Sahith Theegala, who shot 67 on Friday. “You’re playing for a bounce on every single approach shot, even with a wedge. It’s part of the reason why I love this place is just, it’s straight carnage.”
Akshay Bhatia of the United States reacts to his tee shot on the 18th hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard 2026 at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on March 06, 2026 in Orlando, Florida.
Akshay Bhatia, who shot the low score of the day on Friday, a 66, shared Theegala’s acceptance of what is still to come. “I think when it gets a little dicey it can be a very fine line. That’s where I feel like this golf course can get. But I love challenges. I think it makes you focus more, especially for me. You have to be precise and it kind of can show who is playing really good throughout the week.”
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The early portion of the Tour schedule has included dome golf and winning scores hovering above 20 under. While Daniel Berger has defied the odds so far, shooting 13-under 131 to stake himself to a six-stroke lead, the winning total on Sunday may more likely resemble that of a U.S. Open — only held in the spring.
“You play a lot of defense, just trying to keep the round moving forward, which pars are good,” said Rickie Fowler after a second straight 69. “Greens are slick, firm, and it can get a little tricky with the wind here and there.”
Added Rory McIlroy after a 68: “It’s hard to get the ball close. You’re hitting good iron shots to 25, 30 feet all the time, and then you’re not going to make a lot of those. So really have to make the bulk of your score on the par-5s and just stay really patient for the rest of the way.”
Ludvig Aberg said he and his caddie Joe Skovron were joking about how they actually could hit a full wedge “and not worry about it ripping (back with spin) like we’ve done for the last couple of weeks over on the West Coast,” and tabbed Arnie and Jack’s Place, home of The Memorial, as the two toughest non-majors that they face all season. Aberg scratched out a 1-under 71 on a hot, sunny day when a southeast wind that made for a lot of crosswinds. Jordan Spieth, who has ground still to make up on Moving Day, said the greens were confounding.
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“There’s no friction on the greens, yet they’re not wicked fast. Now I just have not adjusted. I’ve left 15 putts short in 36 holes,” he said, adding that while Berger has surged in front, conditions could be wild like the time at the 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock when Berger started the day T-60 and shot 68 and shared the 54-hole lead heading into the final round.
“If the wind picks up and it continues to firm out, then anybody’s in it that’s under par,” Spieth said.
Who’s ready for straight carnage?
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Bay Hill’s ‘carnage’ challenges golf’s best at Arnold Palmer Invitational
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