Matsuyama in six-way tie for Arnold Palmer Invitational lead, Theegala T10

Japanese superstar Hideki Matsuyama putted his way into a share of the second round lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in Orlando on Friday even as Indian-American Satith Theegala dropped into tied tenth place.

Theegala followed his opening 68 at Bay Hill with a level par 72 in the second round and at 4 under 140, was three strokes behind the leaders which had a six-way tie for the top spot on 7 under 137 between Matsuyama (70) and fellow major champions Shane Lowry (71), Brian Harman (68), Scottie Scheffler (67) and Wyndham Clark (66), with Russell Henley (69) completing the star-studded logjam.

Matsuyama relied on his putter to stay in the title race as he goes for a second title in a row after winning the Genesis Invitational last month. Korea’s Byeong Hun An fired a 69 to share 10th place with Theegala, Justin Thomas and three others while compatriot Sungjae Im and Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan returned matching 70s to lie a further stroke back on 3-under at the $20 million Signature Event.

Matsuyama, 32, hit only six fairways and found 10 greens in regulation but made up with his putter as he made five birdies to be ranked fourth in Strokes Gained: Putting, gaining 2.45 strokes over the elite 69-man field. “I feel like I've been putting pretty good,” said Matsuyama, whose longest conversion was from 27 feet on the fourth hole.

“My tee shot wasn't great, that made it challenging. Overall, I had a good round.”

After winning the Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational with a closing 62 to add to his success at the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial Tournament in 2014, Matsuyama is determined to include the Arnold Palmer Invitational to his growing collection of silverware, the PGA Tour said.

Since breaking a tie with Korea’s K.J. Choi for most wins by an Asian golfer, Matsuyama’s confidence has soared after a relatively quiet 2023 season where he posted only one top-10. “Ball striking-wise, there isn't much difference compared to the week at Genesis. Chipping-wise, there's some good chips and bad chips.

“Overall, I feel like my game is on point, so, hopefully, I can keep that for the weekend,” said 2021 Masters winner Matsuyama.

World no. 1 Scheffler, who has not won since last year’s Players Championship, took a share of the lead with a strong finish where he picked up five strokes over the closing seven holes including an eagle on the par-5 13th hole. “I think I just did a good job of staying patient, and just a great finish, I

would say. I think I was even for the round going into 12, and would have been 5-under my last seven, so yeah, just a really good finish,” said the six-time tour winner.

In all, 58 professionals at 3-over 147 from a field of 68 professionals and one amateur made the 36-hole cut at Bay Hill with the six-way tie for the lead an event record, bettering 2010 when four players led the field.