RORY MCILROY HAS won the Arnold Palmer Invitational following a stunning final round of eight-under par 64, which included five birdies in his last six holes.
His victory at Bay Hill was well timed with the Masters looming, and his bogey-free final round also included three birdies on the front nine.
It was a first PGA win in 18 months for the four-time major champion as he outclassed American Bryson DeChambeau and major winners Tiger Woods, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson with an amazing putting display on the Bay Hill greens.
“It’s so nice to see everything come together finally,” McIlroy said. “I wasn’t that far away. It takes something to click into place. Something clicked into place with my putting obviously.”
McIlroy fired an eight-under par 64 to finish 72 holes on 18-under 270 and defeat DeChambeau by three strokes.
“I’m just proud of myself to hang in there over the past few months with injury and everything,” McIlroy said. “To get my first PGA win in I don’t know how long, it feels really great.”
The 28-year-old from Northern Ireland took his 14th US PGA Tour triumph, his first since the 2016 Tour Championship, and served notice he is a solid threat to complete a career major Grand Slam by winning the Masters in three weeks.
McIlroy had not won since the day Palmer died in 2016 but snapped his skid on the course where Palmer used to greet winners as they exited the 18th green.
“It’s a little bit ironic that I come here and win,” McIlroy said. “He set a great example to all of us players. If all of us could handle ourselves the way Arnie did the world would be a better place.
“I wish I walked up that hill to get a handshake from him but I’m so glad to put my name on that trophy.”
DeChambeau fired a closing 68 to take second on 273, one stroke ahead of England’s Rose, who fired a 67, and two in front of Sweden’s Stenson with Woods and US compatriot Ryan Moore fifth on 278.
McIlroy sank a 15-foot birdie putt at 13 and followed with a 21-foot birdie putt at the par-3 14th to seize a two-stroke lead at 15-under.
“That gave me a lot of momentum coming in after not getting a birdie on the par-5 12th,” McIlroy said.
Stenson and DeChambeau each birdied 13 to pull within one shot, but McIlroy answered with a 40-foot birdie chip from off the 15th green for his third birdie in a row and two-putted from 21 feet for birdie at the par-5 16th to seize a three-stroke advantage.
“To be able to chip in, that was a bonus and gave me a little leeway going into the last few holes,” McIlroy said.
ARE YOU KIDDING?? 🙌@McIlroyRory ends with five birdies on the last six holes. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/PY1l3GUo8l
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 18, 2018
Of his approach at 16, McIlroy added, “This was massive, probably the best drive I hit all week.”
DeChambeau sank a 15-foot eagle putt to pull one stroke behind McIlroy only to have the European star sink a 25-footer for birdie, raising his arms in victory.
McIlroy charged into a share of the lead early, opening with five pars before making back-to-back clutch birdie putts, a 10-footer at the sixth and 12-footer at the par-3 seventh.
Another 10-foot birdie at the ninth left McIlroy on 13-under with Stenson after the Swede made bogey at eight, missing the green on his approach and botching a six-foot par putt to set up the back-nine battle.
Woods, making his second comeback bid after four back operations, chased his first victory since the 2013 World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational.
The 14-time major champion, mired in the longest win drought of his career, has shown form in back-to-back weeks to excite fans for his chances at the Masters, which begins April 5.
“I felt pretty good out there,” Woods said. “I hit the ball a little better than I did last week. I felt like I putted well the entire week.”
Woods, wearing his trademark red shirt and black pants, managed his 10th consecutive PGA par-or-better round, his longest such streak in six years.
Woods began the back nine with his fourth birdie of the day as an electric atmosphere built around the Orlando course where he owns eight titles.
At 12, Woods blasted from a bunker to four feet and sank the birdie putt, then made a 14-foot birdie putt at 13 to pull one shy of the lead.
But Woods blasted his tee shot at the 16th out of bounds left and made bogey on the course’s easiest hole.
“I didn’t decide what I was going to do,” Woods said. “I had three different shots. I didn’t commit to it, bailed out on it. It’s on me.”
Woods made a bogey at 17 and closed with a 12-foot par putt.
With additional reporting by © AFP 2018
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Heysel hurt Everton more than any other English club. Denied their greatest side a chance to compete in Europe.
@@TJPPK: you are right but i think as a whole England tried (and succeed ) after hysel and Hillsborough.
@@TJPPK: as an Everton fan I can tell ya that damage is still felt at the club today to an extent. We aren’t bitter about it in the slightest but sometimes ya can’t help but wonder what could have been if it wasn’t for a bunch of hooligans that night, not just for Everton but for all English sides after that
@@TJPPK: Not really. If the tragedy hasn’t happened, Liverpool would have won that game; both Liverpool and Everton would have been in the European Cup. Liverpool suffered too.
@Ian Heaton: they lost the game if memory serves me right, what makes you think without tragedy they would’ve won it?? Jive great side then..
@Philip Mckenna: They lost 1-0 to a penalty that wasn’t, which was to possibly appease the Juve fans. Liverpool couldn’t exactly go out and try to win the game after what had happened. We had a great side too, and we were defending European champions.
I remember watching that game in my teens, shocking shocking scenes, as a Liverpool supporter myself and everyone at the time expected some sort of violence but what unfolded was surreal, the bodies on the field both captains trying to calm the fans before the game resumed, the subsequent inquiry about the state of the stadium, how opposing sets of fans occupying places in the neutral zone, but most of all the dead and injured fans who in the main went out to watch what should have been a great game of ball, and not least the disappointment and disbelief that a section of the Liverpool support caused the mayhem, I recall telling my uncle at the time “this is not why I support Liverpool” coz fu@k it people all them poor souls just went to watch a game of ball and never made it home.
Really interesting read, well done
More likely should be called 2 classes of supporters. 1 the normal decent supporters, 2 the thugs. And most people will remember those thugs ringleaders were from upper class bankers,office workers and other financial institutions looking for kicks total animals
These articles care superb reads lads. Love them!
The night it happened, I was 13 years old and I decided to never have anything to do with that game ever again.
Haven’t watched another soccer match since.
Some mullets in those days
The way in which thatcher is vilified in articles like this is getting tedious. Granted, she wasn’t universally popular and her record in Ireland is appalling, but you would think sometimes that she was a tinpot dictator like Putin rather than a democratically elected leader who comfortably won three elections in a row. If she represented the minority, why did a majority back her? Are all British voters essentially fascist? Or did they remember the utter disasters of a union dominated labour administration? Could it be that a significant number of the sainted working class actually supported her? No, surely not.
@Cathal O’Donoghue: Try being a Scouser living under her regime. There was wishes to run the city down to nothing.
Where’s the comments gone lads? I thought I was having a reasonable conversation with another poster don’t let the kids take over the asylum.
@Dae Monicus: i think its gone to a stage of just cutting the whole thread?
@Stephen Coveney: So much for unhateful free speech Stephen, cheers for the heads up squire.
@Dae Monicus: all my comments were removed. I posted nothing offensive. Journal is a joke. China has more press freedom.
@kevin: I couldn’t agree more Kevin but at the time all clubs had somewhat of an hooligan element and I can’t condone that, however not the clubs as such but those whos fans, patrticuary those with a strong Irish connection ie Liverpool, Utd, Birmingham, Everton did face a lot of bias to be fair and again it doesn’t justify what happened at games it was just a reflection of the times.
60k a year 3 times the average wage???? 20k was the average wage in mid 80’s really??? Apart from that good read