Golf

Marc Leishman rallies late to capture the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one shot.

Standing on the 18th hole at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, Marc Leishman looked to the hill behind the green and said what everyone was thinking.

“I know we all wish he was up there,” Leishman told the crowd.

The first Arnold Palmer Invitational without its iconic host provided the kind of Sunday drama that would have made The King proud to deliver his famous 72nd-hole handshake.

“It was a wild ride out there,” said Leishman, who finished the week 11-under par 277 total.

When the dust settled, the 33-year-old Aussie was the last man standing on a day filled with momentum swings and heartbreak for several golfers with a chance coming down the stretch.

Leishman grabbed the lead for good with a 51-foot eagle on the par-5 16th hole. He followed the improbable putt with a pair a clutch upand-downs on the final two holes, culminating with a 45-yard pitch shot to set up a 3-foot par putt on the final hole.

When the ball found the hole, Leishman was greeted on the 18th green by his wife, Audrey, and their two sons, Harvey, 5, and Oliver, 3. Leishman second PGA Tour win — and first since 2012 — earned him a trip to the Masters and turned the page on a trying time for him and his young family.

In late March 2015, Audrey went to the hospital after suffering from acute respiratory distress. Leishman abandoned Masters preparations to join his wife, but her condition worsened to the point she was put in an induced coma and suffered toxic shock syndrome.

Given a 5 percent chance of recovery, Audrey Leishman eventually recovered during the ensuing 12 to 18 months and is now pregnant with the couple’s third child.

“It makes golf and — I want to do it well — but it makes it less important,” Marc Leishman said. “It’s not life and death. We have been in that situation and it’s not fun.”

Those travails gave Leishman perspective and the peace of mind to hold up under the immense backnine pressure Sunday at Bay Hill.

Four players held a share of the lead during the final hour, but only Leishman was not undone by critical miscues.

World No. 3 Rory McIlroy, four-over his first 20 holes at the API, put together a Palmer-like Sunday charge that had Bay Hill abuzz.

A 383-yard drive on the ninth hole set up the first of three birdies in a four-hole stretch to move McIlroy to 10-under par. After a sloppy bogey on the par-3 14th hole, he nearly chipped in for eagle on No. 16.

Aware Leishman had moved a shot ahead as McIlroy reached the 18th green, he blasted a 39-foot birdie putt on 18 eight feet past the hole and missed the comeback putt to finish the week 9-under.

“I definitely gave that putt a run, that’s for sure,” McIlroy said, “but these things happen. I can take a lot of positives from it.”

Kevin Kisner, on the other hand, left Bay Hill crestfallen.

A birdie on the par-3 7th hole gave Kisner a threeshot lead, but a series of miscues led to three bogeys coming in and forced him to birdie the 18th hole to tie Leishman. Kisner’s chances ended when his approach found the left bunker.

“I had it right there in the palm of my hands to win and I didn’t get it done,” he said. “I got to get better.”

While Kisner was cruising, Charley Hoffman, Kisner’s 54-hole co-leader, came unhinged during a five-hole stretch on the front nine with four bogeys.

Hoffman rallied with birdies on the 12th and 13th holes, but a par-5 on 16 and par-miss from 8 feet on No. 17 ended his bid for his fifth win on Tour.

“Arnie’s is a special play, first year he’s not here, would like to have finished a little differently,” he said.

Leishman, meanwhile, finished with a flourish to earn the red cardigan now awarded the winner and a trophy that left his oldest son, Harvey, agog.

“He keeps asking me, ‘Daddy, why don’t you ever win the trophy?’” Leishman said with a laugh. “I mean, I don’t take it too seriously. He’s 5 years old. It does give me extra motivation, though.

“I’m just lucky that I played well and made the putts when I had to make them.”

“I know we all wish he was up there.”

Marc Leishman ,on Arnold Palmer not being at the 18th green of his tournament for the first time

SARAH ESPEDIDO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Marc Leishman celebrates his title at the 2017 Arnold Palmer Invitational with his wife Audrey, and their two sons Harvey and Oliver.

RICHARD HEATHCOTE/GETTY IMAGES Kevin Kisner had three bogeys coming in and finished a shot out of a potential playoff.