A major championship test has produced a major championship leaderboard through the first round of the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational. On a day when the scoring average at Bay Hill Club & Lodge was roughly 74.50, it was last year’s runner-up Wyndham Clark who seized control of the tournament with an opening 5-under 67 to command a two-stroke lead over Shane Lowry and Keegan Bradley, among others.

“I don’t know if I figured it out. I definitely feel a little more comfortable on it,” Clark said of Bay Hill. “I don’t know, I just think there’s a lot of water, there’s a lot of trouble out here, and I think I’ve just gotten more comfortable with some of those tee shots. Maybe a little more conservative on some holes, maybe a little more aggressive on others. 

“Then just I think thinking my way around the course better. I think in the past sometimes I would get out of position and I would try to make up for it and then I make a big number,” he said. “I’ve just kind of learned to maybe put it back in play and just maybe make your par or bogey and not try to get those big numbers. So that’s maybe been it. It’s nice to put some good numbers on this golf course and, you know, if anything it’s really good momentum for the rest of the week.”

Clark was the beneficiary of calmer — albeit still difficult — conditions Thursday afternoon as the scoring average among the later wave proved to be about 1.50 strokes lower than those who teed off in the morning. Clark raced to the top of the leaderboard late thanks to birdies on Nos. 16 and 18 to skirt past his fellow pros Lowry and Rory McIlroy, who signed for a 70 of his own.

In the early hours it was U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley who navigated the treachery with the highest level of effectiveness. Trading four birdies against just one bogey, the American sits in prime position to win the second signature event of his career and his fourth PGA Tour title since Fall 2022.

He isn’t the only major champion to be lurking in the shadows, however. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler looks sharper by the round and signed for a 71 to put him alongside his Ryder Cup teammates Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay.

The leader

1. Wyndham Clark (-5)

It was around this time last season when Clark caught fire. Finishing runner-up to Scheffler at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship in back-to-back weeks, the former U.S. Open champion looks keen on avenging at least one of those close calls. Even without his normal caddie on his bag, Clark methodically picked apart Bay Hill.

The three-time winner ranked first in strokes gained tee to green, first in greens in regulation — thanks partly to hitting all nine on the inward half — and played his final 15 holes bogey-free. If he keeps his golf ball in play these next 54 holes, he has the game to keep his name atop the leaderboard.

“It’s unfortunate,” Clark said of his close calls last season. “I had a few tournaments last year that if Scottie wasn’t in the field I would have won. But that happens, and I was really pleased with my finishes. Maybe can I get some redemption in these next few weeks and hopefully Scottie’s not up there (laughing).”

Other contenders

T2. Shane Lowry, Keegan Bradley, Corey Conners, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (-3)
T6. Rory McIlroy, Max Greyserman, Si Woo Kim, Cam Davis, Justin Rose (-2)
T11. Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay (-1)

The stars are lining up behind Clark. Bradley, Scheffler and Morikawa were among the notables to get the job done during the more difficult morning wave, while Cantlay, Lowry and McIlroy made the most of their opportunities during the later hours of the day. It is the latter group that will once again receive some reprieve from the difficulties given the quick turnaround and light winds forecasted for Friday morning.

That is good news for all of them, but especially for someone like McIlroy, who hit his irons beautifully on Thursday. The four-time major champion got as low as 3 under before some missteps coming home. He ranked third in strokes gained approach and has room to improve with the driver, hitting just 6 of 14 fairways. 

“I think it demands good ball striking,” McIlroy said. “You have to really control, especially today, control your flight and distance very well with your irons. That’s something that I’ve been working on quite a lot and feel like I’m pretty good at that. I think that’s the big thing. It’s not ‘There’s not a ton of drivers out there, you can get away with being a little more conservative off the tee.’ But it’s a great second-shot golf course, and I feel like that’s why I’ve excelled here.”

Xander Schauffele’s return

The two-time major champion teed it up on the PGA Tour for the first time since the first week of the year, and rust was more than apparent. Schauffele started decently playing his first five holes in 1-over par fashion, but it was the stretch of holes around the turn which ultimately were his undoing.

Schauffele signed for five straight bogeys from Nos. 6-10 to go from 1 over to 6 over. Schauffele clawed back to 5 over thanks to his only birdie of the afternoon on the par-5 16th — the easiest hole on the golf course — but he still has work to do if he is to see the weekend. The world No. 3 entered the week with the longest made-cut streak on the PGA Tour (57) since Tiger Woods’ 142 in a row.

“Yeah … got my ass kicked (smiling). It’s a tough place to come back to, not going to lie,” Schauffele said. “Palm Springs would have been nice, something like that, that would have been a little bit easier — miss a couple, get a way with it. I knew I was going to come in on short notice to what is sort of like a major championship setup around the greens, and with the greens being crusty, I really felt it there more than anything else.”

Another amateur to watch

One week after amateur Luke Clanton secured his PGA Tour card via the PGA Tour University accelerated program, another amateur is trying his case at accomplishing the very same. Auburn’s Jackson Koivun came into the week with 18 points in the program and two shy of the required threshold to secure full-time status on the PGA Tour. Koivun fired an opening 72 on Thursday and could reach that magic number of 20 this weekend if he is to make the cut and finish inside the top 10.

“I feel like my game is definitely ready, I can come out here and compete,” Koivun said. “I think just adjusting and maturing mentally a little bit, with all the travel and just the life-style of the PGA Tour, I could use a couple more years at college.”

2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational updated odds and picks

Odds via DraftKings Sportsboook

• Scottie Scheffler: 3-1
• Rory McIlroy: 4-1
• Wyndham Clark: 7-1
• Shane Lowry: 12-1
• Keegan Bradley: 14-1
• Collin Morikawa: 14-1
• Justin Thomas: 16-1
• Patrick Cantlay: 18-1
• Ludvig Åbeg: 18-1

Pick your poison. I was a big believer in Lowry and Cantlay at the onset of the week, and that sentiment remains true. Both players struck their irons beautifully, rolled the rock with conviction and still have areas where they can pick up strokes. If not those two (or the big two atop the odds board), Rose may be the man at 60-1 and only a few off the early pace.