RORY ON FIRE
Palmer event brings McIlroy back to boil as Augusta beckons
TRUST Rory McIlroy to come up with a weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational that did full justice to the memory of the great man.
Eleven shots off the lead with two rounds to go? How the swashbuckling Arnie would have loved the manner in which the sport’s most charismatic player dug his way out of the hole in which the first two rounds had left him to make a thrilling run at the title.
McIlroy gave himself a sniff of victory with a third-round 65 on Saturday and built on that with some stunning golf on the final afternoon which saw Marc Leishman win by one shot.
The Northern Irishman’s best golf is always built on some sterling work from the tee but here it was off-the-charts good.
Two of the most difficult par-four holes at Palmer’s course at Bay Hill are the ninth and the 15th but not when you hit two arrowstraight drives measuring — wait for it — 381 yards and 373 yards respectively.
This was McIlroy’s final strokeplay round before the Masters in two weeks and how he has made up for lost time, after missing eight weeks owing to a fractured rib. There’s clearly nothing wrong with his rib now.
Birdies at the ninth, 10th and 12th holes saw McIlroy halve a sixshot advantage enjoyed by American Kevin Kisner. There was just two in it when Kisner bogeyed the 12th and then one when the PGA Tour stalwart bogeyed the 14th.
A birdie at the 16th and McIlroy was tied for the lead with Kisner and fellow American Charley Hoffman. But there was a huge error at the last when, going for the birdie, he three-putted from no distance. It meant ‘only’ a 69.
‘I thought going out today if I could shoot anything in the 60s it would be a good score,’ McIlroy said afterwards.
‘Obviously I was trying to shoot a couple lower than that but overall played well, I’m really pleased with how I went this weekend and can take a lot of positives from it.’
The other contender was Australian Leishman, who rolled in a 50ft putt for an eagle at the 16th to go from one behind the leaders to one ahead.
Englishmen Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick began the final round with a real chance to win but their inexperience playing on these grand American stages showed. The latter — just 22, lest we forget — was four over for his round after 16 with the former one over and in need of a big finish to claim a top four placing.
Tommy Fleetwood’s marvellous year to date looked as if it was about to take a wrong turn when he opened with an ugly 78.
But it shows just what an accomplished player the 26-year-old from Southport has become that he fought back so well to finish in the top 10. A gutsy 66 on Friday got him into the weekend play, and he continued the forward progression with a 70 on Saturday, before a fine 68 yesterday.
Fleetwood hasn’t looked back since winning his first title in four years after landing the Abu Dhabi Championship in January.
It got him into the first WGC event of the season in Mexico three weeks ago where he claimed the biggest cheque of his career — a mammoth $1.1 million — in finishing second to world No 1 Dustin Johnson.
In turn, that has earned him a first trip to the Masters next month and this gritty effort will put him in good heart for his final tune-up event at the WGCDell Technologies Match Play Championship in Austin this week.
Playing alongside him, Graeme McDowell was impressed.
‘Tommy’s ball striking was really something to see,’ he said. ‘He’s definitely a Ryder Cup player in the future and his game should set up well for the Masters. The confidence with which he is playing, I’d even describe him as a sleeper pick.’