Scottie Scheffler stands by changes ahead of The | Sports News

Scottie Scheffler maintained his driver change was useful on 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 the place 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, however 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 primary time Scheffler has made an gear modification at Bay Hill; the Arnold Palmer Invitational was the inaugural event the place Scheffler utilized his game-changing TaylorMade Spider putter. Whilst the motive force did not ship the identical 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 concerning the effectiveness of the motive 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 on the WM Phoenix Open, fourth on the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and twelfth at The Genesis Invitational.

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

The Arnold Palmer Invitational marked the primary time for the reason that 2025 U.S. Open that the world No. 1 failed to attain underneath 70 in a event.

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