The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
STENSON UP BY 1; McILROY, WOODS, ROSE IN HUNT
Rory, Rose put heat on front-running Swede with 67s.
Henrik Stenson gets his third chance in four years to finally win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and the final hour Saturday reminded him it won’t be easy.
Part of that feeling came from three putts he narrowly missed — two for birdie, one for eagle — that could have given him some separation going into the final round at Bay Hill in Orlando. Stenson settled for a 1-under 71 that gave him a one-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau, who missed a few chances of his own in a round of 72.
And part of that feeling was seeing some of the names suddenly in the mix.
Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy made an eagle and birdied two of his last three holes, dropping a wedge into 3 feet on the 18th for a 67 to finish two shots behind. Former U.S. Open champion Justin Rose outplayed Tiger Woods before another raucous gallery, posting a 67 that left him three behind.
“I think that I didn’t really miss a shot the last six holes,” said Stenson, who was at 12-under 204. “The only frustrating part was not really getting the score with me on that fine play coming in.”
Woods isn’t entirely out of it just yet, either.
He hit another shot that had the fans buzzing, switching from a wedge to hit back to the fairway to a 5-iron he took over the lip, over the trees and over the water to set up a birdie on the par-5 16th. Woods had a 69 and was five shots behind.
“I’m within reach if I shoot a really, really low round tomorrow,” Woods said.
Of his record eight victories at Bay Hill, Woods has led six times and was tied for the lead another time. His lone comeback also was from five shots behind in 2009, when he rallied to beat Sean O’Hair with a 67 in the final round. Woods has played in the final group at all eight of his Bay Hill victories.
This time, he has nine players in front of him, and they have some pedigree.
It starts with Stenson, who has reason to believe he is overdue at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He had a oneshot lead with four holes to play in 2015 when he had consecutive three-putts — one for bogey, another for par — and Matt Every beat him with an 18-foot birdie on the last hole. A year later, Stenson was tied for the lead on the back nine until dropping two shots and tying for third.
“I’ve been up in the mix and let’s hope for a different outcome tomorrow,” Stenson said.
McIlroy has gone 26 tournaments since his last victory at the Tour Championship in 2016 to win the FedEx Cup.
Match Play: Luke List became the 64th player to get into the Dell Technologies Match Play when Adam Scott chose not play.
Scott was among five players from the top 64 in the world ranking who are skipping the World Golf Championships event. The others are Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, who is recovering from a wrist injury.
The tournament starts Wednesday at Austin (Texas) Country Club. Defending champion Dustin Johnson is the No. 1 seed.
LPGA Tour: Laura Davies took a satisfying look at the scoreboard next to the 18th green. At 54 years old, and nearly 17 years since her last LPGA Tour victory, the Hall of Famer had a share of the lead halfway through the third round of the Founders Cup in Phoenix.
The Englishwoman shot a 9-under 63 on Saturday at Desert Ridge, her best score on the tour since 2005.