ORLANDO, Fla. >> Wyndham Clark handled a stressful day at Bay Hill by eliminating as much trouble as possible. Two late birdies as the wind finally waned carried him to a 5-under 67 and a two-shot lead Thursday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

It was clear from the start Bay Hill was going to be a beast with cold weather and big wind on a course with thick rough and putting surfaces that already had a yellow sheen to them.

Clark, with a pitching wedge to 2 feet on the 18th for one final birdie, had the highest score to lead the tournament in eight years.

Only 14 players broke par, the fewest in 36 years at Bay Hill with an asterisk — this now is a signature event with only 72 players in the field, compared with 120.

But it was tough.

“Pick your poison out here — you can probably create a story with whatever it is,” defending champion Scottie Scheffler said after the world’s No. 1 player shot 71. “The greens are tough, the rough is high, and the wind is up.”

Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, Shane Lowry, Corey Conners and Christiaan Bezuidenhout were the only other players to break 70, each with a 69. Rory McIlroy was poised to join them until a bogey on the final hole to join the group at 70.

Lowry was watching some of the feature groups on streaming before his afternoon tee time and didn’t like what he saw — Cameron Young on his way to an 82, Max Homa with an 81 and, unlike last week at PGA National, a premium on par.

“I turned on the TV and watched some golf this morning and it didn’t look much fun out there. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to my round,” Lowry said. “But I think we got favorable conditions. Even though it wasn’t easy, I felt like did I a good job of making my way around the golf course. I was pretty happy with my result.”

The wind died but the greens were getting crustier, so call it a draw.

Clark missed only three greens and salvaged a bogey from a shot into the water on the par-4 third hole. He didn’t drop another shot.

He narrowly missed an 18-foot eagle attempt on the par-5 16th, hit a tough lag from 45 feet on the par-3 17th for a tap-in par and finished with birdie.

“I knew it was going to be really challenging. And although 5 under looks like a fantastic score, I wasn’t necessarily trying to shoot that number, it kind of just happened. I was really just trying to keep it in front of me. Any time I got out of position, hit it back short of the green, leave myself into the wind, easy chips.

“I really didn’t have that much stress, which was really nice. That makes it for an easier round when it’s really tough.”

It was plenty tough for Xander Schauffele, who returned from two months off to heal an intercostal strain and slight cartilage tear in his right ribs. His health was good. The rust was evident. The score was a 77.

Schauffele has the longest active cut streak at 57 tournaments, which now is in danger going into Friday. He was tied for 52nd, and only the top 50 and ties advance to the weekend in this player-hosted signature event.

Roy sets pace in rainy Puerto Rico

Kevin Roy returned from an hourlong rain delay and holed a bunker shot for his 10th of 11 birdies on Thursday en route to a 10-under 62 and a one-shot lead in the Puerto Rico Open.

It was a career-low PGA Tour round for the 34-year-old Roy, who made nine cuts in 31 starts as a tour rookie in 2022-23, then earned his way back via the Korn Ferry Tour last year.

Chris Gotterup was 10 under standing on the tee at the par-4 18th hole, but his drive missed badly to the right and found a small pond, leading to his only bogey of the day at Grand Reserve Golf Club. He was one shot back.

Rasmus Neergard-Petersen and Davis Riley each shot 64 in soft conditions at the event played opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. The weather delay prevented 18 players from finishing before darkness; among those, four were at 6 under with at least a few holes to play.

Roy was 9 under through 15 holes when rain halted play. He returned to play the par-3 seventh hole, where his 7-iron approach found a greenside bunker. His blast from the sand landed softly and trickled into the cup.

Trio tied at top at Blue Bay in China

Ayaka Furue, A Lim Kim and Auston Kim were atop the leaderboard at the LPGA’s Blue Bay tournament with opening round scores of 4-under 68 on Thursday.

Jeeno Thitikul, the world No. 2, was a shot back with seven other players on China’s southern island of Hainan.

In a very crowded field on the first day, 12 more players were just two shots off the pace after rounds of 70.

No. 4-ranked Ruoning Yin carded a par 72 in front of her home fans.

Defending champion Bailey Tardy shot a 3-over 75 and was seven shots off the lead.