World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler amid logjam atop Bay Hill leaderboard

PGA Tour star Justin Thomas had heard enough.

A tough day undoubtedly lay ahead during Friday’s second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Bay Hill Club and Lodge, benign by its exacting standards just a day earlier, was ready to bite back.

Coming off an opening bogey, Thomas hit a 5-yard chip shot at Bay Hill’s par-3 second hole that sounded as if it’d landed on a cart path. A par-save ensued, but a rollercoaster round featuring an eagle and double-bogey was just beginning.

“I handed [caddie] Bones [Mackay] my wedge and got my putter and I was like, ‘Did you hear that?’ ” Thomas recalled following a 1-under 71 left him 4-under through 36 holes. “And I’m like, ‘This could be tough today.’ But, yeah, it’s Bay Hill.”

A gettable golf course for many on Thursday rewarded only players who were razor sharp on Friday — and at times even punished those who were.

“There’s still a score out there if you play perfect golf,” first-round co-leader Shane Lowry said.

A leaderboard featuring five major champions in a six-player tie at the top punctuates the quality of golf Bay Hill demands.

Lowry settled for a 1-under 71 and sits in a logjam at 7-under-par 137 total with world No. 1 and 2022 API winner Scott Scheffler, reigning U.S. Open championship Wyndham Clark, reigning British Open winner Brian Harman, Russell Henley and Hideki Matsuyama, who won the PGA Tour’s last signature event at the Genesis Invitational.

Given he’d missed the cut in four of five APIs, Lowry was pleased to be in the mix yet also bemoaned missed opportunities. The 36-year-old’s frustration boiled over after a bogey on the 174-yard par-3 17th when his 8-iron landed well shy of the pin but bounded forward to rest along the collar.

“I hit a perfect shot,” Lowry said. “I felt like I hit a perfect shot on 14. Both times I finished over the green.”

A handful of golfers calculated distances, accounted for bounces and capitalized on chances better than most.

Clark’s 66 was the day’s low round and featured just 23 putts, including ones for birdies on five of the final six holes for a back-nine 5-under-par 31.

His biggest make, though, was a 5-footer for bogey on the par-5 12th Clark had butchered.

“There’s hardly any grass on the greens right now, they’re so fast,” he said. “That putt could have wiggled off line, and making a double there … would have been terrible.

“It’s kind of one of those momentum putts.”

Scheffler caught a late wave himself. His back-nine 32 began with an eagle 3 at the 12th after a bogey 5 at the 11th. A 201-yard approach to the green and putt just inside 25 feet began Scheffler’s run.

“I just did a good job of staying patient, and just a great finish,” he said.

Harman was steady himself until a wayward drive on the 18th hole led to his only bogey for the day for a 68. The final-hole miscue allowed six players, including ever-popular Rickie Fowler and rising star Ludvig Aberg, to slip back in under the cut line after Harman’s 17th-hole birdie left them outside of it.

Harman, with five missed cuts in 10 APIs, has missed his share of weekends at Bay Hill.

“I’m in a little better form,” he said. “Ended up making a couple more putts, and playing the par-3s well — those are usually the ones that get me.”

Only two bogey-free rounds were recorded, by Will Zalatoris, who sits a shot back after a 69, and Stephen Jaeger. The Korn Ferry Tour legend carded an impressive 67 with birdies on the four par-5s and No. 18 to move to 5-under.

“It was awesome,” Jaeger said. “I played really solid. I had one bad golf shot.

“It was one of those days.”

Some had a day to forget.

Journeyman Justin Lower followed up a surprising 67 with a spirit-crushing 76; world No. 12 Tommy Fleetwood and world No. 14 Collin Morikawa each shot 80 to miss the weekend; and API leaderboard regular Matthew Fitzpatrick went 74-75 to miss the cut after five straight top-15s finishes.

But with eight top-25 players within three shots of the lead and world-class players such as Lowry in form, another riveting and near-wracking weekend is ahead at Bay Hill.

“There’s no trophies given out today,” Lowry said. “So I’ll just dig in over the weekend and see where it leads me come Sunday.”

Edgar Thompson can be reached at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com.