The Bay Hill Club and Lodge spared almost nobody on the first day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and it wasted no time taking down one of its first victims.
Cameron Young was one of the first players to tee off on Thursday morning and he took somewhat of a casual approach to the start of his round. Many people were surprised when Young showed up to the first tee box with AirPods in his ears.
The interesting choice certainly didn’t help Young, as he yanked his first drive way out to the left into the out of bounds area.
Young’s second tee shot — his third stroke on the hole — didn’t go much better. He pushed that one out into the rough on the right and eventually made a triple-bogey seven on the first.
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Young’s day didn’t get much better from there. He made another triple bogey on the 11th hole and finished the day with a 10-over-par 82, which puts him alone in last place heading into the second round.
Making the cut is most likely out of the question for Young barring a heroic second round, and he put himself behind the 8-ball from the first swing of the day.
Young wasn’t the only notable name that was eaten alive by the vicious winds and brutal conditions in Orlando during the first round. Max Homa finished just one shot ahead of Young with an 81, Tom Kim and Matt Fitzpatrick both shot 6-over 78s and even Xander Schauffele carded a 5-over 77 in his return from injury.
The players will hope for better conditions on Friday after what looked like a U.S. Open for much of the first day, but a clear head would be a good start for someone like Young. Don’t expect the AirPods to make a return on Friday.
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