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<\/p>\n
The Australian veteran was forced to take a penalty on the 13th as his ball rolled through the green and was stuck between several rocks.<\/p>\n
He then three-putted from the fringe on 14 before missing two short putts on 15.<\/p>\n
Scott\u2019s birdie chance from 1.53 metres did not even hit the cup.<\/p>\n
Neither did his par putt from even closer.<\/p>\n
Scott then dropped another shot at 17 as he failed to get up-and-down from a greenside bunker.<\/p>\n
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – MARCH 06: Adam Scott of Australia watches his tee shot on the first 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. Mike Ehrmann\/Getty Images\/AFP (Photo by Mike Ehrmann \/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA \/ Getty Images via AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n
He ended his round with a one-over par 73 and three-under for the tournament.<\/p>\n
The 2013 Masters champion was not the only one to have trouble with the rocks, or the greens.<\/p>\n
After his final round collapse at last week\u2019s Cognizant Classic, Shane Lowry (+3) suffered the brutal blow of having to play from the rocks beside the 18th green.<\/p>\n
The Irishman\u2019s ball came out almost sideways and he made bogey as a result.<\/p>\n
Shane Lowry copped a brutal blow in the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
But it was Scottie Scheffler\u2019s blow up on the final green that raised most eyebrows.<\/p>\n
After the world No.1 made bogey at 18, he threw his ball into the water in frustration.<\/p>\n
Scheffler signed off on a 71 and sits three-under for the tournament.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, fellow Australian Min Woo Lee felt his countryman\u2019s pain on the greens.<\/p>\n
Lee shot a one-under par 72 to sit in a tie for ninth at four-under, but dropped three shots on the back nine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last six holes the greens were crusty and a bit of wind, so it made putting very hard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like we were looking at putts from every angle. It\u2019s not easy as the guys out there have got it quite challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it was nice to play in the morning yesterday and post a score.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe speeds are unbelievably quick,\u201d Lee added when asked about what makes the greens so challenging.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially downwind. Some like 20 footers, you\u2019ve got to hit like 4 feet hard and they still reach the hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a bit of a guess and a lot of it\u2019s feel. We don\u2019t get that crusty greens wherever we play, but here is one of the places that is.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of luck but it\u2019s crispy. Hit some good putts. That\u2019s all you can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – MARCH 06: Min Woo Lee of Australia looks on the 18th green 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. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
At the top of the leaderboard, Berger carded an impressive 68 to sit 13 under par midway through the tournament <\/p>\n
The 32-year-old American entered the clubhouse with a six-shot lead over a crowded field, as he chases his first PGA Tour win in five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually feel like I played better today,\u201d Berger said, despite having made a flawless 63 the previous day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the course was a little tougher today. The green speeds are up there. The pin positions are tough.\u201d <\/p>\n
A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, whose last triumph came at Pebble Beach in 2021, Berger started his second round with intent, immediately sinking a 24-foot putt from the fringe for a birdie on the opening hole.<\/p>\n
Though he recorded his first bogey of the week at par-three seventh, two-putting after finding a bunker, it was smooth sailing for the native Floridian on the back nine, where he picked up three more birdies.<\/p>\n
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – MARCH 06: Daniel Berger of the United States hits a tee shot on the 15th 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. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Sweden\u2019s Ludvig Aberg was among the players in the clubhouse on seven under par, along with Sahith Theegala who shot up the leaderboard with a bogey-free round of 67.<\/p>\n
The American managed five birdies, holing in from a bunker on the 10th and putting from 14 feet on the 16th.<\/p>\n
Theegala expressed relief at keeping his scorecard flawless with a clutch 10-foot par putt on the final hole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great round, to go around this place with no bogeys. That putt on the last for sure meant a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Theegala predicted conditions would become even tougher, with the greens expected to get firmer still over a hot weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of the reason why I love this place is just, it\u2019s straight carnage… these first few days were probably as good as scoring gets out here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Perez holes out at LIV Hong Kong! | 00:48<\/p>\n
Rory McIlroy — gearing up to defend his Masters title next month — also carded one of Friday\u2019s best rounds, declaring himself \u201cvery pleased\u201d to finish in 68 after an erratic even-par opening round.<\/p>\n
McIlroy carded five birdies and a solitary bogey on the par-four eighth, where he found the water but prevented further damage with a 10-foot putt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really felt like that kept any momentum that I had for the round going. I played the last 10 holes really, really well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A back nine collapse ruined Adam Scott\u2019s day as Daniel Berger opened up a substantial lead in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[5487,2620,2095,64,63,249192,205331,228203,56483,4589,260901,6936,260900,2057,260899,222085,2755,111733,2105,755,94019,2041,2067,3583,2785,67058,51334,260905,260898,756,1656,260902,260903,85,260904,4200,2508,2614],"class_list":{"0":"post-523909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-adam-scott","9":"tag-agence-france-presse","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australian-min-woo-lee","14":"tag-australian-veteran","15":"tag-birdie-chance","16":"tag-bogey-free-round","17":"tag-brutal-blow","18":"tag-brutal-putting-collapse","19":"tag-daniel-berger","20":"tag-erratic-even-par-opening","21":"tag-europe","22":"tag-final-green","23":"tag-final-hole","24":"tag-florida","25":"tag-four-time-winner","26":"tag-getty-images-inc","27":"tag-golf","28":"tag-mike-ehrmann","29":"tag-north-america","30":"tag-northern-america","31":"tag-northern-europe","32":"tag-orlando","33":"tag-orlando-ramirez","34":"tag-pebble-beach-company","35":"tag-pin-positions","36":"tag-rare-blow-up","37":"tag-rory-mcilroy","38":"tag-shane-lowry","39":"tag-six-shot-lead","40":"tag-solitary-bogey","41":"tag-sports","42":"tag-substantial-lead","43":"tag-sweden","44":"tag-tee-shot","45":"tag-united-states-of-america"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}