ORLANDO, Fla. — After the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday, Graeme McDowell, fresh off a 4-under 68, praised how playable Bay Hill — usually a headache for even the world’s best players — had been. 

McDowell suggested the tournament officials “pushed’’ some of the par-3 tees forward in an effort to make the course more playable. 

“I think there’s a realization here that this golf course is not loved by every player, and they maybe need to change the setup a little bit just to try and appeal to everyone,’’ McDowell said. “I do believe they’re really making a big effort to make sure the players continue to come here to this great championship and fall back in love with this golf course.’’ 

One day after 49 of the 120 players in the field broke par on Thursday, many players may have fallen out of love with the course. Just 18 players broke par in the second round on Friday in trickier conditions that included more breeze and quicker green speeds. 

Viktor Hovland, the 24-year-old from Norway who happens to be the hottest player in the field, took the lead into the weekend at 9-under after shooting a 6-under 66 in his morning round Friday. 

Hovland leads Rory McIlroy, who shot an even 72, Tyrrell Hatton (68) and Talor Gooch (68), who are all tied at 7-under, by two shots. 

Billy Horschel, who shot 71, is 6-under and Beau Hossler, Martin Laird, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Patton Kizzire, Sam Burns and Westchester’s Cameron Young are all 3-under. 

Asked where Friday ranked on the “devilish’’ scale at Bay Hill, McIlroy said, “It’s up there.’’ 

“Those are the sort of greens you expect to see late on a Sunday, not late on a Friday. It’s going to be interesting to see where they go from here, but it’s going to be a good test over the weekend. The course definitely changed a lot from when I played it [Thursday] morning to [Friday] afternoon. I’ll be a little more prepared for it [Saturday].’’ 

McIlroy described the greens as “glassy and firm,” adding that they’ll only continue to “be tricky” as the tournament progresses. 

“You just have to be so, so precise whenever the greens get like this,” he said. “[It] just puts even more of a premium on hitting the ball in the fairway so that you can put some spin on the ball to control it into these greens.” 

Gooch looked relieved when he finished his afternoon round. 

“I don’t want to go play again,” he said. “I’m happy with [the score]. It’s tough out there. Anytime you can get under par on a day like today, you’ve done some good.” 

Adding to the degree of difficulty this week is longer, thicker rough than usual. 

“You’re praying for par if you don’t hit fairways, and half the time when you do hit the fairways, you’re still praying for par,” Gooch said. “If you’re not hitting fairways, you don’t have any chance. I hit a fair amount today, which gave us a chance. 

“I don’t know if they can get the greens any firmer or faster without it getting ridiculous. There would be a few players not too happy if that were the case.” 

McDowell, who professed his love for this tournament since it’s in his adopted hometown, shot a 4-over 76 on Friday to stand at even for the tournament. 

Asked on Thursday where he falls on the love-hate scale for the golf course, McDowell said: “I don’t think you can ever really love a really, really tough golf. It’s like a U.S. Open setup, for example. When you’re having to play away from flags, there’s a certain frustration to that, but there’s also a certain amount of discipline required to do that. 

“That’s what made Tiger [Woods] great. That’s why Tiger won so many times around here because, A, he’s really, really good. B, you have to be super-efficient with what you’re doing. You have to ignore pin positions and stay away from trouble. So, I think that appeals to that type of player.’’ 

That is the way the late Arnold Palmer always wanted the course for his host tournament — with firm, challenging greens. He undoubtedly had a smile on his face Friday as he looked down on the goings on.