A beautiful Day at Bay Hill has Jason at 6-under
Jason Day felt he was playing better. He finally had a score to show for it Thursday at Bay Hill.
Day one-putted his last seven holes, including a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 16th to take the lead and two tough par saves at the end for a 6-under 66 and a oneshot lead in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Among those one shot behind was Adam Scott, which was no surprise. Scott is the hottest player in golf, coming off two straight victories at the Honda Classic and the Cadillac Championship at Doral, and he played bogey-free in benign Orlando weather and on a course where no blade of grass seems to be out of place.
Rory McIlroy made a pair of double bogeys and opened with a 75, leaving him in danger of missing his second straight cut against a full field.
He hit his opening tee shot outof-bounds and made his other double bogey with a shot into the water on No. 8. McIlroy hit two other shots into the water and escaped with par, and he made par putts of 10 feet, 15 feet and 25 feet.
Henrik Stenson, Marc Leishman, Brendan Steele and Troy Merritt also were at 67. The group at 68 included the resurgent K.J. Choi and Justin Rose, who made two eagles.
Day played the last seven holes in 5 under, including the 6-iron he hit to within 10 feet on 16.
Equally satisfying were the par saves from the bunker on the par-3 17th, where he blasted out to 5 feet, and a par on the final hole when he chipped to 10 feet.
“I’m just trying to win a tournament right now,” Day said.
Alec Peters scored 16 of his 26 in the first half and finished with nine rebounds, while Shane Hammink added 18 points to help top-seeded host Valparaiso beat No. 4 seed Florida State 81-69 in the second roundof theNIT.
The Crusaders (28-6) will play the winner of Sunday’s game between third-seeded Georgia and No. 2 seed Saint Mary’s on March 22.
A high school football coach in suburban Philadelphia has resigned amid accusations that three senior football players sexually assaulted a freshman on what the team called “No Gay Thursday.”
Three 17-year-old Conestoga High School students face charges that they held down a 14-year-old boy in October and penetrated him with a broom handle.
The district said in a letter that longtime head football coach John Vogan has resigned and that the varsity and junior-varsity football staff have been relieved of coaching duties, though prosecutors say they have no evidence the coaching staff knew of the team’s hazing culture.