Stenson leads at Bay Hill; Kokrak in chase again

Associated Press

ORLANDO, FLA.

Henrik Stenson has shown a remarkable finishing kick at Bay Hill.

Seven shots out of the lead in the second round, Stenson closed with four straight birdies for a 66 to stay close. On Saturday, he was two shots behind when he again played the final four holes in 4-under par, including a 20-foot eagle putt.

That gave him another 66, and a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“Four under in the last four holes ... that normally moves you in the right direction,” Stenson said.

All that’s left is for the Swede to finish off the tournament, and he realizes the task is just starting.

Stenson will play in the final group today with Morgan Hoffmann, who stumbled on the front nine, recovered with three birdies in four holes and then stalled over the last four holes with pars for a 71.

Six players are separated by three shots going into the final round, a group that includes defending champion Matt Every.

“It’s a new day tomorrow, so whatever has happened these first three days has put me in a nice position,” Stenson said. “But it’s got to be done all over tomorrow.”

Rory McIlroy looked as though he would be among the contenders.

The world’s No. 1 player pulled to within one shot of the lead with his fourth birdie of the round on the 13th hole. But he ran off three straight bogeys, missing a par putt from just inside 3 feet on No. 15 and chopping up the par-5 16th hole. McIlroy effectively gave up two shots to the field on the 16th, where only one other player failed to make par or better.

McIlroy missed the cut in the Honda Classic and finished eight shots behind at Doral. Asked if Bay Hill counted as being in contention, he replied, “Not anymore.”

“I guess if I can get off to the fast start tomorrow ... maybe I will have a chance,” he said. “It would have been nicer to be a little closer to the lead going into tomorrow.”

Stenson, the No. 3 player in the world, was at 16-under 200.

Every had a 69 and was in the group at 13-under 203 that included Warren JFK High School graduate Jason Kokrak (65), Matt Jones (67) and Las Vegas winner Ben Martin (68). Jones birdied his last four holes, including a 75-foot putt across the green at the par-3 17th.

Hoffmann had a chance to limit the number of contenders if he had posted a better score. The scoring average was low again because of slow, receptive greens this week. But he kept getting funny lies in the fairway, mud on his ball and a few breaks that didn’t go his way.