Jason Day led by only one stroke through 18 holes of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and managed to push his advantage to two shots thanks to an exceptional performance during Friday’s second round.
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That attitude is a departure from the one Stenson displayed down the stretch at Bay Hill past year, when he was put on the clock late in the day, became irritated, starting rushing, and three-putted the 15th and 16th holes to lose the tournament by one to Matt Every. – Scott Verplank shot his second straight 6-under 66 to take the second-round lead in the Champions Tour’s Tucson Conquistadores Classic.
Stenson went on to add that it was actually Justin Rose’s caddie, Mark Fulcher, “who kind of got it fired up there on the last”.
“I felt like I couldn’t get any momentum, especially with the umbrella up and down, the rain gear on and off”, Day said.
McGirt rolled in four birdies, including back-to-back on Nos.
“Hopefully we’re in a different position now”. Johnston said Palmer has committed at least $10 million to Arnie’s Army to make sure the charitable work is sustained. “We need to come from behind and play a really good round tomorrow if we want to have a shot at it”. It’s a great combination for anyone, particularly a player who reached No. 1 in the world past year by winning four out of six tournaments, including his first major.
“My goal was to be patient out there but still aggressive with the lines I was taking”, Day said.
Day’s start to the 2016 PGA Tour season was a bit of a disappointment considering the high expectations placed on the Aussie star after he tore up the back end of the 2015 season. 2 finished the week with two eagles – both in R4 – 16 birdies, two bogeys, and six doubles.
The 26-year-old, who found the water three times in an opening 75 before recovering with a 67 on Friday, did birdie the sixth only to card his third double bogey of the day on the seventh, where he found sand off the tee and compounded the error by three-putting from long range. He was runner-up in 2013 to Tiger Woods (though he was never closer than two shots in the final round), and he finished third (two shots behind Martin Laird) in 2011.
Rory McIlroy doesn’t have much at stake, either.
Rose produced a fairly solid if unspectacular Saturday 71, bogeys at two par-threes his only blemishes, and this sweet swinger seems likely to hang tough in the afternoon breezes which are forecast for Bay Hill today.
At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the cheesed-off world no 2 is fed up to the back teeth with visits to water features.
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“It’s good to be back in contention”, Day said. I was really disappointed coming off the course yesterday after feeling like my game was in really good shape coming here – you’ve seen glimpses of that this week with a 67 which could have been a lot better on Friday and then a 65 today.
