Final Round
Marc Leishman of Australia turned out to be the player that held it together best while others faltered in a big way down the stretch during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The stout Aussie made an eagle three at the 16th hole and recovered beautifully after pushing his drive right into some chunky stuff on the iconic 18th at Arnie’s Bay Hill Golf Club and Resort to come away with a one-shot victory over Americans Kevin Kisner and Charlie Hoffman.
Good run for Leishman
Leishman posted a sweet 3-under 69 to finish at 11-under 277 for the tournament as he overtook Kisner and Hoffman, who entered the day tied for first and then proceeded to tick-tack-toe their way around the course in the late stages to drop into a second-place tie.
Kisner had gotten off to a solid start with birdies at holes Nos. 4 and 7 before he let shots slip away via bogeys at Nos. 8, 12 and 14. He came home scrambling with just four straight pars, including one at the par 5 16th, which was playing as one of the easier holes on the Orlando-area layout.
Hoffman scuttled his chances when he went on a bogey run at holes 5, 7, 8 and 9. He came back with birdies at Nos. 12 and 13 but dropped another stroke at No. 17 before he made a birdie at 18 - the tough closing hole that he had birdied all four days of the tournament – but it was too little too late.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland got hearts racing by recording seven birdies during the final round as he stuck several approach shots tight to pins to get into a short-lived tie for first.
However, he carded four bogeys including a three-putt one at No. 18, that dashed his hopes. Canadian Adam Hadwin, last week’s winner at the Valspar Championship, pulled the gallery out of its collective seats at the par 3 17th when he rattled his tee-shot square off the flagstick in an oh-so-close attempt at an ace. He finished solo sixth at 8-under 280 and moved to fourth in the FedExCup points race. He will now tee up the rest of his life by getting married to his fiance, Jessica.
