McIlroy heats up at Bay Hill
As the weather got warmer Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, got hot — and stayed hot.
The World No. 3 player shot a bogey-free 7-under 65 to move to 6-under par, seven shots off co-leaders
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“I felt the last couple of days the conditions were tough,” McIlroy said. “But today, with it being a little warmer, a little less breeze, a good score was right there … and I just played better. I gave myself looks and holed some putts.”
After making six bogeys and two double bogeys the first two days of play, McIlroy spoke with putting coach to get back on track on the greens. The pep talk worked. After making two birdies on the front 9, he made three consecutive birdies to begin the back 9. He finished making birdies on No. 17 and 18 and had seven on the day.
“The putter was better,” McIlroy said. “Speed was a little better on the greens. Felt it was good, just the speed was off and the commitment wasn’t quite there, compared to the way it was on the putting green when we practice. … Just a little more aggressive with the speed as well. So it was nice to see a few drop.”
With his short game in tune, and his ability to hit greens in regulation — he’s hitting 83.3 percent of greens this week — McIlroy believes he has a chance to win.
It’s all contingent on what happens with the rest of the field.
“To be starting the day at 1-over par and to end it at 6-under for the tournament is great, but I can’t control what the guys do out there,” McIlroy said. “If I can be within five or six of the lead going into tomorrow, I would be pretty happy.”
A week after winning the Valspar Championship, Canadian is near the leaders once again entering the final day.
Hadwin shot 3-under 69 Saturday and is 7-under par.
“I’ve hit it beautifully now for seven rounds in a row and I hit a lot of good putts today,” he said. “I’m still swinging it well, still hitting good putts, and I’m right there.”
Hadwin’s ball striking allowed him to get off to a scorching start on the front 9. He birdied three of the first four holes and four of the first six.
However, he didn’t carry his early play the rest of the way.
Multiple three-putts derailed a chance to finish with a lower score. Hadwin finished with eight consecutive pars.
But the flurry of pars didn’t put a damper on his strong play of late. Getting off to another good start today and keeping it going is what he’s focusing on.
“I’m playing extremely good golf right now, so I just need to keep it going for one more day,” Hadwin said.
left the 2016 API as the No. 1 player in the world after going wire-towire.
After this year’s tournament, he’ll be leaving in search of his game.
The World’s No. 2 player shot 3-over 75 Saturday and sits at even-par, 11 shots off the lead.
Day’s round fell apart in the middle of the back nine. He made birdie on 11 but bogeyed No. 12.
On the par-4 13th, Day hit his first shot in the bunker and followed it up by hitting his second in the water. He made double bogey.
Day bogeyed the par-3 14th before making just his third birdie of the day on 15.
The Australian has struggled with myriad of injuries within the last year, including a back injury that caused him to miss time at the end of last season.
Day is the reigning WGCMatch Play Champion and is scheduled to defend his title starting Wednesday in Austin, Texas.