Stenson in tie at Bay Hill
Henrik Stenson has another chance to win at Bay Hill, and he made it a little bit tougher on Tiger Woods. Stenson, who had chances to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational two of the last three years, fought through a rugged stretch with par saves and made three birdies after the turn for a 3-under 69 yesterday. That gave him a share of the lead with Bryson DeChambeau, who shot a 66.
Woods wasn’t nearly as sharp, didn’t make a birdie until the 12th hole and shot 72. He was 7 shots back.
“I didn’t hit the ball close, I didn’t hit the ball well,” Woods said. “But I was just hanging in there, just try not to shoot myself out of the tournament.”
Stenson and DeChambeau were at 11-under 133. They had a 2-shot advantage over PGA Tour rookie Talor Gooch (70).
Woods trailed after 36 holes in four of his eight victories at Bay Hill, including a 7-shot deficit in 2008.
Stenson struggled from the start in weather that was chilly even for his Swedish blood. He made enough par putts to keep momentum, ran off three straight birdies late in his second round and wound up with a share of the lead.
DeChambeau also sputtered early and came on strong with a 7-foot eagle putt on the 16th and an approach to 4 feet for birdie on the 18th for a 66.
“I think every week I’m good enough to win or play my best,” DeChambeau said. “It’s just sometimes a kick here, a break here and that’s just what happens.”
Woods played in the afternoon and went through the front nine with no birdies and two bogeys, dropping 9 shots behind. He is coming off a runner-up finish at Innisbrook last week.
The co-leaders had a little separation over the morning wave. PGA Tour rookie Gooch had five birdies on the back nine for a 70 and was 2 shots behind. Rickie Fowler (71), Billy Horschel (70) and Luke List (67) were 5 shots behind. Rory McIlroy again was slowed, this time by a pair of bogeys to start his back nine, and shot 70. He was 6 shots behind, along with Ernie Els (70).
“Henrik has played great,” McIlroy said. “I’m going to have to play very, very good golf on the weekend to catch him, but I’m in a better position this Friday than I was last Friday, so I’ll take anything I can get.”
McIlroy missed the cut last week. So did Stenson, in his first tournament after a month break. He opened with a 64 in the warm afternoon, and then faced temperatures around 50 when he teed off yesterday morning. The former British Open champion now lives in Orlando, and this was the kind of morning when ordinarily he would have a cup of hot chocolate and wait until it got warmer to play.
“I might be Swedish, but I’ve gone soft,” he said. “I lived in a nice climate for too many years.”
He had only two birdie chances inside 30 feet on the back nine (he started on No. 10), and those were from 18 feet. And then his round nearly got away from him on the par-5 16th when he chunked a shot from the fairway bunker, pitched some 70 feet beyond the hole and had to make an 8-footer for par.
He had to make a 15-foot par save after hitting into the bunker on No. 17, and he saved par from the bunker left of the 18th green by holing a 5-foot putt.
“It could have easily been two or three, even three bogeys on those three holes and got away with pars on those and stayed patient and played a bit better coming in and racked up three birdies in a row,” Stenson said. “So 3-under, I’m pretty pleased with that.”
LPGA: Clanton at top
Cydney Clanton holed out from the fairway for eagle on the par-4 13th and closed with a birdie to take the second-round lead in the Founders Cup in Phoenix.
Clanton shot a 5-under 67, playing the back nine in 5-under 31 to reach 9-under 135. The 28-year-old is winless on the LPGA Tour.
Ariya Jutanugarn, Marina Alex, Karine Icher and Mariajo Uribe were a stroke back on a calmer day after wind made scoring more difficult Thursday.