ORLANDO – Twenty.
That’s how many strokes Matt Every’s bogey-free 7-under 65 was better than his second round at the Honda Classic last week.
Thanks to a 32-foot birdie putt at No. 8, Every signed for the low round of the day at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and made his 85 at the Honda Classic last week a distant memory.
“My short-term memory isn’t very good, so that is a strength sometimes,” Every said.
Well, in this case, Every, 36, hasn’t completely forgotten the disaster at the par-3 fifth hole at PGA National in the second round last Friday when he made an 11.
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“OK, I’ll tell you what happened. It was a back-left pin. I was already going to miss the cut. It was – the wind was off the right. I had been having problems all week holding the wind and I normally can hold the wind. And I’m not going to learn anything by skanking one out to the right and bailing out. I know I can do that,” he said of hitting four 5-irons into the drink. “So, I wasn’t leaving that tee until I hit the shot I wanted and I flushed every one of them, like, exactly in the same spot in the water. And then finally I hit one that held it.”
It took a 4-iron to do so. Why did he finally break down and switch clubs?
“I think I had like two balls left and it was, I just didn’t want to have to deal with that,” he said. “I was ready to get out of there.”
His goal on Thursday was simple: “I just didn’t want to shoot myself out of the tournament with the weather the way it was, but I got off to a good start,” he said.
Did he ever.
Starting on 10, he wedged from 91 yards to 3 feet for birdie. His putter heated up with a 14-foot par putt at 14 and then a couple long ones after making the turn. He canned a 36-footer birdie putt at No. 1 and a 47-foot birdie at 2.
There’s something about Bay Hill. ♥️
Two-time @APInv champion Matt Every takes the solo lead heading into his final hole of the day.#LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/HzvB3aCoAL
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 5, 2020
It added up to a 65 that topped the field on a warm, blustery day, one stroke better than World No. 1 Rory McIlroy shot in the morning.
“I always feel like my good stuff has been really, is really, really good. There’s just no, like, middle ground with me, though. That’s the problem. It’s, like, either ragged or really good,” Every said. “But, yeah, I feel good about my game right now.”
It’s been a difficult year for Every, who was suspended for 12 weeks for failing a Tour drug test in October. Every says he’s been prescribed marijuana to combat anxiety, but the Tour denied his request for a Therapeutic Use Exemption. While marijuana is legal in some states, it is on the banned substance list under the Tour’s anti-doping policy.
“It bothers me that it’s even an issue out here at all,” he said. “I think it doesn’t do anybody any favors that it’s even on the list for a prohibited substances. You could fail for heroin and marijuana and the penalty is the same. If anyone wants to make the argument that that is performance enhancing, they have never done it before. I promise it’s not.”
Every, who entered the week ranked No. 309 in the world, returned to action at the Sony Open in Hawaii, but withdrew due to a back injury. His best result is a T-18 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He was in contention at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but shot a final-round 80 on a windy day and ballooned to T-32.
Bay Hill Golf & Lodge has always been one of Every’s favorite hunting grounds. The Daytona Beach, Florida, native grew up attending the API as a kid – he used to follow Mark Calcavecchia – and he’s won here twice (2014-15) for his only two titles on the PGA Tour.
Every’s 65 marked his lowest score in 33 rounds at Bay Hill. He’s opened in the 60s two other times at the API and both times he went on to win.
And for those scoring at home, Every can become the first player to post his first three Tour titles at the same event since Leonard Gallett, who won the 1929, 1933 and 1934 Wisconsin PGA.
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