Rahm slides down leaderboard at Arnold Palmer Invitational as Kitayama and Spieth move up

By Sports Desk March 03, 2023

Jon Rahm's brilliant recent run came to a dramatic halt in windy conditions as he slipped down the leaderboard on day two at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Friday, with Kurt Kitayama taking a two-stroke lead.

Rahm, who has claimed five wins from his past nine starts worldwide, had led the event after an opening-day seven-under 65 but carded a four-over round of 76 on day two to be six strokes off the pace at three-under overall.

The Spaniard's round saw him come back to earth, falling away dramatically late with three bogeys and a double bogey in his final five holes at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Florida.

Rahm's struggles opened the door for Kitayama, who had been joint second after the first day. Kitayama backed that up with a four-under 68 with five birdies and one bogey to be nine-under overall.

Kitayama has led three events this season after 36 holes and is yet to convert any into victories.

Over Kitayama's shoulder is three-time major winner Jordan Spieth who found his putting groove to card a three-under-par 69, sitting two shots off the lead at seven-under overall. Spieth might have been closer if not for a bogey on the 18th after a poor drive.

Xander Schauffele and Corey Conners are tied at six under, with Davis Riley, Patrick Cantlay, Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Thomas behind them at five under. Conners carded the day's best round with a six-under 66.

Last month's Honda Classic winner Chris Kirk was tied for second after the opening day but also dropped away with a day-two 75 that included two double bogeys.

Among those to miss the projected cut, with play suspended with two players left on the course, were Collin Morikawa, Tom Hoge and Hideki Matsuyama.

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    On Friday, world number one Scheffler was arrested outside Valhalla Golf Club ahead of his second round.

    It subsequently emerged that he faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic.

    Scheffler shot a five-under 66 in the delayed second round, one stroke better than his first round, but a two-over 73 on Saturday all but ended his hopes of back-to-back major wins.

    Xander Schauffele ultimately claimed his first major title at 21 under, eight shots ahead of Scheffler.

    Speaking after Sunday's final round, in which a run of seven birdies in 10 holes helped him card a 65, Scheffler said he was proud of the way he finished the event. 

    "I think 'hectic' would probably be a good description," Scheffler said. "I'm fairly tired, definitely a lot more tired than I have been finishing some other tournaments.

    "I'm proud of today how we went out there and fought. I got off to a slow start and I was able to get some momentum and post a good round.

    "Yesterday obviously was quite frustrating and a bit of a different day, but overall proud of how I fought this week. Was fortunate to be out here competing, doing what I love."

    Asked whether his arrest had an impact on his performance, Scheffler said: "It's hard to tell. I think I would attribute it mostly to a bad day. 

    "I think when you come out here to compete, you're doing what you can throughout the course of the round to post a score and I wasn't able to get that done yesterday.

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    "I got arrested Friday morning and I showed up here and played a good round of golf. So I've been good throughout my career at leaving the off-course distractions at home and keeping a pretty quiet personal life.

    "I'm not going to sit here and say that I played poorly yesterday because of what happened on Friday. I just had a bad day out on the course and was proud of how I came out here and bounced back today."

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    McIlroy was in contention for glory after carding a five-under 66 on the first day at Valhalla.

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    McIlroy looked poised for another top-10 finish before finding the water twice on Sunday, but still emerged at four under for the day with seven birdies and three bogeys in an up-and-down final round.

    He continued: "Obviously I started the week well, and then I've obviously played decent over the weekend.

    "That six-hole stretch on the back nine [on Saturday], not being able to hole any putts, I'll probably rue that.

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    The world number one had a turbulent week, which saw him arrested ahead of the second round on Friday, and he finished joint-eighth.

    "All of us are climbing this massive mountain and at the top of the mountain is Scottie Scheffler," Schauffele added. "I won this today, but I'm still not that close to Scottie Scheffler in the big scheme of things.

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