Day hoping to extend his streak of staying ahead
Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla.
The words Jason Day has used all week at Bay Hill are what he gets from Tiger Woods whenever they talk about playing with the lead.
Patience. Aggression. Extend the lead. And if you’re not on your game, post a good score.
It carried Day to a 2-under 70 in rough weather Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, giving him a two-shot lead and one more day to show he’s a quick study. He has won the last three times he had at least a share of the 54-hole lead.
“It’s a different pressure, but it’s a good, uncomfortable feeling that I’ve always talked about, that I always want in my career,” Day said. “Because I know that if I’ve got that, I have a comfortable feeling that I’m doing it right. And usually, I’m around the lead.”
It wasn’t easy Saturday, even though tee times were moved forward because of a forecast of storms in the afternoon. That didn’t keep the rain from showing up, occasionally heavy, or for the temperatures to fluctuate and the wind to swirl.
Henrik Stenson caught up and briefly passed him. Troy Merritt and Kevin Chappell hung around.
“I felt like I couldn’t get any momentum, especially with the umbrella up and down, the rain gear on and off,” Day said. “All that said, I feel like I stayed patient to ground out a 2-under par.”
Day finished at 15-under 201, two shots clear of Stenson (70), Merritt (67) and Chappell (67).
It was a grind for everyone.
Stenson wasted little time cutting into the deficit when he two-putted for birdie on the par-5 fourth, hit wedge to 6 feet for birdie on the next hole and then took the lead with a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 sixth.
But the next hole was the start of some frustrations. Stenson found a plugged lie in the bunker, didn’t try anything fancy and accepted a bogey. He caught two other buried lies in the sand, one that cost him momentum. His tee shot narrowly missed clearing the bunker on the par-5 12th and plugged under the lip. Stenson could only hit wedge to get out and made bogey. That cost him a share of the lead, and Stenson never caught up.
Even so, he is a threat at Bay Hill. Stenson is now 51 under in his last 17 rounds — 16 of those under par — and had a chance to win last year until a pair of three-putts (for bogey and for par) late in his round.
The last wire-to-wire winner at Bay Hill (no ties) was Fred Couples in 1992.