Jason Day shot 70 on Sunday at Bay Hill Club & Lodge to secure a wire to wire victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he finished the week on 17-under-par.
The Australian ground out nine pars and three birdies over his final dozen holes, twice getting up-and-down over his final five holes, to win by one over Kevin Chappell.
Day reached the 18th with a one shot lead, but had a tough up and down to make from a greenside bunker. He played the chip to perfection and stopped it four feet from the hole before tapping in to secure his eighth PGA Tour title.
‘I made sure that even though the front side wasn’t good for me and everyone saw it, don’t panic, make sure you take it and that’s where people that win and finish 2nd usually take that opening and jam the door shut and fortunately for me I had an amazing up and down on 18,’ he said.
The 2015 PGA Championship winner shot rounds of 66, 65, 70, 70 to edge out Chappell, who was sole second ahead of a tie for third between Henrik Stenson and Troy Merritt. Open Champion Zach Johnson was sole fifth after carding a pair of 68s at the weekend.
‘I just kept on saying to myself, kept on saying to the people, the fans, the media, just be patient,’ said Day. ‘Things take time. It happened this week. I’m just happy that I won.’
Retief Goosen was the leading South African in the field and tied for 46th on three-under-par. The two-time US Open winner made his second cut in as many weeks and rose to 140th on the PGA Tour Money List.
