The record books will say Jason Day had a wire-to-wire victory at the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf and Country Club. He led every single day and was the dominant story of the weekend.
The video will show Day zoomed out to the lead and held on. More than that, he needed to make shots with plenty of players coming for him on the final day, taking the lead from him and forcing him to make up ground on the course’s final holes. Day did not have his best golf the final two days, but he had more than enough to hold off the star-studded field at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and win his first tournament since last year’s FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Day lost his lead by the time he made the turn and had to fight to stay in it. At the par-3 17th hole, Day stuck his tee shot 12 feet from the hole to pull even with Kevin Chappell and back into the lead. He would control his destiny heading to the daunting 18th hole.
Meanwhile Chappell was struggling with that hole. His drive went way to the right forcing him to lay up rather than try to tempt going over the water to attack the green. His third shot from the fairway though landed far from the hole. His par putt would be from 25 feet. And he left it short.
The door was open for Day, heading to the final hole with a one-stroke lead as his playing partner, Troy Merritt chunked his second shot and needed to hole out for par to stay two strokes back.
This is where Day’s mastery of the weekend and even for Sunday showed through.
Day too drove it right into the rough. He tempted the water, but lost his approach to the left and into a greenside bunker. To prevent a playoff, Day got up and down from the bunker with a brilliant shot and saved his par to win the tournament.
Even with a relatively tame 2-under 70 in his final round, Day showed everyone why this week was always his. He just was grinding.
Grinding after losing the lead on the front nine and three bogeys in his first six holes. Grinding with just two birdies on the back nine. Grinding to scratch out the birdies when he absolutely needed it.
That is what a champion needs. And Day had it for four days to get his first win at Bay Hill and to become one of the players to watch (not that he was not already) when the PGA TOUR heads to Augusta in about a month.
