Arnold Palmer Invitational 2014: Adam Scott overwhelms Bay Hill, tops leaderboard

The Masters starts in just three weeks now, and after Thursday’s events at Bay Hill, it’s looking like defending champion Adam Scott will roll into Augusta as the favorite. The 2013 Masters champ put the rest of the golf world on notice in the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, matching a Bay Hill course record with a round of 62.

Scott did most of the damage on the par-5s and with his broomstick putter, bombing in putts from 20 feet and beyond. He made just 23 putts all round, and canned five from outside 19 feet (per Brian Wacker of PGATour.com). An eagle at the par-5 16th (he went off the back 9) really jumpstarted the round and put it on the path to the course record 10-under. He rolled that one in from 36 feet for the first of his two eagles, and he’d finish the day 6-under on the par-5s alone. A smoked 3-wood at the 4th hole set up his second eagle of the day. Highlights of the round via PGATour:

The Aussie had all facets working and will be a force at Augusta. He’s long been considered to have one of the best swings, particularly with the driver, in the game and that’s how he carved up those par-5s on Thursday. The putter, in addition to a nice sand save, resulted in the complete package and a three-shot lead that left many of the best players in the world overwhelmed and mystified. A win would not guarantee an overtaking of Tiger Woods for the No. 1 ranking in the world, but it would put him on the edge and potentially push him to No. 1 before the duo got to Augusta.

The pairing of John Merrick and Ryo Ishikawa sit three shots back of Scott at 7-under, taking advantage of low winds and good scoring conditions during the first round at Arnie’s place. Pretty much all of the top players this week -- Harris English, Henrik Stenson, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Brandt Snedeker -- are in the red and inside the top 20 chasing Scott, except for Bubba Watson, who called it quits due to allergies after making a sextuple bogey and posting an 83 (21 shots worse than Scott). If Scott comes close to playing the way he did on Thursday, however, that talented group of chasers doesn’t have a chance. Here’s the leaderboard after Round 1 in Orlando: