Scheffler, Lowry tied atop Arnold Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO: Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry of Ireland survived a breezy afternoon to each shoot a 2-under-par 70 on Saturday and claim a share of the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla.

Scheffler and Lowry now sit at 9-under 207 for the tournament, one stroke ahead of Wyndham Clark (71 on Saturday), who owns sole possession of third. Will Zalatoris (71), Russell Henley (72) and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (72) are in a three-way tie for fourth, two shots off the lead.

Scheffler, who won this event in 2022, got off to a slow start, picking up three bogeys against just one birdie en route to a 38 on the front nine. But he proceeded to birdie three of his first four holes on the back, then added two more birdies at Nos. 15 and 16 before closing out his round.

“I think I’m just doing a good job of trying to stay in a good head space on the greens. I missed some putts that I should have made today on the front nine,” Scheffler said Saturday. “A lot of that I just attributed to how gusty it was with the winds. I think I let some of the gusts and stuff kind of get to me.

“Maybe I should have backed off of a couple of putts that I hit. The wind can be a bit of a distractor at times. On the back nine, I did a really good job of just trying to stay as much in it as I could.”

Lowry faced similar issues before the turn, carding back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 8 and 9 before offsetting those with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 11 and 12. He then went par-bogey-par before going birdie-birdie-par to finish on a high note.

While Lowry knows going up against the No. 1 player in the world in Scheffler will be no easy task, it’s an opportunity he isn’t taking for granted.

“These are the reasons you get up out of bed in the morning, to get out and compete against the best players in the world,” Lowry said. “Yeah, I’m excited, I’m looking forward to it. I’m just going to go out and do my thing. ... Regardless of what happens (Sunday), I think it’s great progress for me over the last few weeks.”

Zalatoris briefly held a five-shot lead with four birdies from Nos. 3-8, but he stumbled with a bogey at the par-3 14th and double bogeys at Nos. 15 and 18. Harris English, who enters Sunday in seventh place, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy tied for the day’s low round, shooting 68s. McIlroy, in a tie for eighth at 5 under, quickly moved up the leaderboard with a bogey-free 30 on the back nine that included six birdies.