Scottie Scheffler stands by changes ahead of The | Golf News

Scottie Scheffler maintained his driver change was useful at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and plans to retain the membership in his bag for The Players Championship.

Scheffler continuously adjusts his gear. After opening with a stable 2-under 70, his first sub-par opening spherical since his spectacular 63 at The American Express, Scheffler was unable to gain ground on the leaderboard.

At the venue where his exceptional streak of success began two years in the past, Scheffler made a vital adjustment to his bag. Leading up to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Scheffler examined a new driver.

In late 2025, the 29-year-old experimented with the Qi4D driver at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge, but has since returned to his earlier setup. Scheffler used the Qi10 model to start the 12 months and caught some followers off guard when he added the new driver to his bag in Orlando.

This is not the first time Scheffler has made an gear modification at Bay Hill; the Arnold Palmer Invitational was the inaugural event where Scheffler utilized his game-changing TaylorMade Spider putter. Whilst the driving force did not ship the same outcomes, Scheffler intends to keep it in his arsenal for now.

“Yeah, I feel like I saw some good things out of it,” Scheffler commented when questioned about the effectiveness of the driving force. “We’ll see kind of going forward where I’ll be at. But overall, I definitely saw some good things from it this week.”

Scheffler has had a stable season on paper, clinching his first victory in January at The American Express. He subsequently positioned third at the WM Phoenix Open, fourth at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and twelfth at The Genesis Invitational.

However, Scheffler’s ultimate spherical left him feeling disillusioned. The Texan incurred a double bogey on the 18th gap – his second in consecutive rounds and his third double bogey in his last 19 holes at Bay Hill – ensuing in a 73 as he tied for twenty fourth place.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational marked the first time since the 2025 U.S. Open that the world No. 1 failed to rating under 70 in a event.

In distinction, Bhatia ignited a back-nine surge with 4 consecutive birdies, outpacing Daniel Berger with a par on the first playoff gap to triumph at Bay Hill. Bhatia, who completed with a 3-under 69 to secure his third PGA Tour title, told reporters: “You just never know what can happen in this game.”