Rory McIlroy reacts after Scottie Scheffler ‘laps the field’ in dominant Arnold Palmer Invitational win

Rory McIlroy admits Scottie Scheffler “lapped the field” after finding the missing piece to his game in a six-under 66 for a five-shot victory Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Already the best in golf from tee-to-green, Scheffler had a hot putter at Bay Hill and no one stood a chance. He built a three-shot lead at the turn and poured it on to deliver a bogey-free round and the best score of the final round by two shots.

The five-shot victory was the largest margin at Bay Hill since Tiger Woods in 2012.

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“This is a super tough golf course and to be six under today going out with the lead and just sort of lapping the field is super impressive,” McIlroy said.

“But we all knew that he had this in him. His ball-striking is, honestly, on another level compared to everyone else right now. We knew if he started to hole putts, then this sort of stuff would happen.”

Scheffler finished at 15-under 273 and won $4 million from the $20 million purse of this signature event. It was his seventh career win, all against some of the strongest fields. And it came a week before Scheffler defends his title at The Players Championship, which had been his last official PGA Tour win.

U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark birdied the 18th for a 70 to finish alone in second. Shane Lowry, who started the final round tied with Scheffler, shot 72 and finished third.

Will Zalatoris had a 72 and tied for fourth, securing an exemption to the British Open this year.

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LIV GOLF LEAGUE

Abraham Ancer lost a five-shot lead with a 2-under 72, and then regained just enough of composure to make birdie on the first playoff hole to win LIV Golf Hong Kong over Paul Casey and Cameron Smith.

Casey closed with a 64 and Smith had a 66 to force a playoff at Hong Kong Golf Club.

With heavy rain falling, Ancer found the fairway on the 18th hole in the playoff while Casey and Smith drove into the rough. Ancer hit his approach close for a short birdie, as the other two finished with bogeys.

They finished regulation at 13-under 267. Joaquin Niemann, going for his third LIV title in four events this year, had a 63 and missed the playoff by one shot.

Ancer picked up $4 million for his first LIV Golf title. Casey helped Crushers to the team title. Anthony Kim shot a 65, his first round under par in two LIV events since he returned to competition after 12 years.

LPGA TOUR

Bailey Tardy picked up her first victory on the LPGA Tour, closing with a 7-under 65 for a four-shot victory over Sarah Schmelzel in the Blue Bay LPGA.

Tardy finished at 19-under 269. Schmelzel closed with a 69, while Ayaka Furue of Japan shot a 65 to finish five shots behind in third.

Tardy, who played college golf at Georgia, is the third player in the last 10 years to make Blue Bay her first LPGA victory, joining Gaby Lopez (2018) and Lee-Anne Pace (2014). Blue Bay returned to the LPGA schedule this year for the first time since 2018.

Lydia Ko, who shared the 54-hole lead with Tardy and Schmelzel, closed with a 71. A victory would have given Ko enough points for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

PGA TOUR

Brice Garnett holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole Sunday to win the Puerto Rico Open in his first tournament of the year, sending him to The Players Championship next week and giving him PGA Tour status for the next three years.

Garnett closed with a 3-under 69 at Grand Reserve Golf Club, getting back in the game with consecutive birdies on the 13th and 14th and then saving par on the 18th in regulation.

Erik Barnes closed with a 68, also saving par on the 18th. They finished at 19-under 269.

Garnett won in the Dominican Republic in 2018 for his only PGA Tour victory, but he fell outside the top 150 last year and was reduced to having low status as a past champion. This was the first tournament he could play this year.

Now he is exempt on the PGA Tour through 2026. He gets in the PGA Championship in May and starts next year at Kapalua for The Sentry.

EUROPEAN TOUR AND SUNSHINE TOUR

Matteo Manassero broke through with his first European tour win in nearly 11 years, closing with a 6-under 66 after a storm delay to win the Jonsson Workwear Open by three shots.

Once a prodigy in European golf, the 30-year-old Italian picked up his fifth European tour win by making four birdies in his last four holes to finish at 26-under 262.

Thriston Lawrence (63), Shaun Norris (68) and Jordan Smith (68) tied for second.

Manassero became the European tour’s youngest winner at the age of 17 years and 188 days in 2010 at the Castell� Masters in Spain. He won four times in a three-year stretch to start his career, with one of the victories coming at the tour’s flagship event — the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Manassero, currently ranked No. 381, had struggled since those first four victories and dropped off the European tour. He only regained his card at the end of last year after some time on the second-tier Challenge Tour.

AP contributed to this report