Scottie Scheffler tied the streak of 21 consecutive rounds with a score of 60s in 2025. And while he brought the winning momentum into 2026, Bay Hill is a challenge of its own. In fact, at the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational, he might not have a single round in the 60s across all four days. Simply put, the World #1 is having a horrid time.

His approach shot on the 14th was a perfect illustration of that. The stroke landed on a rough surface impossible to hit from. What’s even more shocking is that the ball was nowhere close to the green. It was on a small island in the middle of a sand trap, stuck between very tall grass.

Since Scheffler was unable to hit from there, he was forced to take a penalty. So the par-3 hole, which averages above par across four rounds, turned into a five-stroke hole for the World No. 1. Things only got worse from there.

He shot a double bogey on the hole, bringing his score down from 2-under par to even par for the day. That further ruined any shot Scheffler had at getting a score in the 60s in the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Have a look at it:

It is not every day that you watch Scheffler lose his cool. But the Arnold Palmer Invitational became a forgettable event for him from day 1.

The merciless greens that don’t spare anyone had the Texan wondering where he was going wrong or if his decision to change his equipment before the event was correct to begin with. Yet, through two days, he stood in 15th position. It all kept getting worse from there.

He ended the event with his worst finish of the season at T24, with Akshay Bhatia winning the gold. Fans were understandably surprised by Scheffler’s blunder.

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Scottie Scheffler’s poor performance gets a strong reaction from fans

Scottie Scheffler’s poor miss and the ball being stuck deep in the grass received a lot of reactions. Fans were surprised by how inaccurate the World No. 1 was. One of them said, “Crazy shot by Scottie Scheffler at Arnold Palmer Invitational on 14…” But this is not the first crazy thing Scheffler has done at Bay Hill this week.

He was seen losing his cool on the 18th green after a poor performance in the second round. We can only assume that he’s going through a rough phase at the moment. Hopefully, it will pass now.

Still in disbelief, someone else wrote, “Scottie just hit his golf ball into a palm tree on the par 3 14th and it got STUCK in the tree. Has to go back and retee…. Can’t make this up!”

Playing a par-3 hole, Scheffler had to use the iron to cover the 216 yards. Knowing how good he is with irons, fans were surprised at how poorly the drive was executed to find the palm tree sitting in the middle of a bunker 216 yards away. Speaking of palm trees, Kyle Porter wrote, “normal sport.”

He also shared a picture of Scheffler riding back from the bunker to the tee spot to retake his shot. Ironically, Porter is the Founder of Normal Sport, a golf newsletter. So this can be more of a marketing gimmick than a tease towards Scheffler. But maybe his next edition will have a story on Scheffler’s time at Bay Hill.

After watching him make one mistake after another, one of the fans just questioned, “What in the f— is Scottie scheffler doing,” while another also tweeted, “What in the world is going on with Scottie Scheffler?!?! #arnoldpalmer #pga.”

Fans aren’t used to seeing Scheffler struggle. However, just before the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational, he had changed his driver. Could that have affected his form? Maybe. However, seeing how close it is to the PLAYERS Championship and the Masters, Scheffler will need some good practice to not repeat these blunders.