Local Sports

Rory Storms Back For Win At Arnold Palmer Invite

Rory McIlroy took center stage down the stretch and put the accelerator down with a closing 8-under 64 and his first PGA Tour victory since the 2016 Tour Championship at the Arnold Palmer Invitational from Bay Hill.
 
McIlroy went out in 33, and the top of the leaderboard was rich with major winners. McIlroy joined Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose around the lead halfway through the day with Tiger Woods charging in the distance. With the tournament outcome hanging in the balance and Woods trying to take it by the throat, it was McIlroy who birdied five of the last six holes to get to 18 under and beat Bryson DeChambeau by three.
 
He did it every way possible, too. McIlroy chipped in, buried long putts, hit 375-yard drives and then he closed like champs close: with a hammer and a roar.
 
It had been a mildly bumpy ride for McIlroy, who didn't have a top 10 on the PGA Tour this season and came into the week outside the top 120 in strokes gained on approach shots as well as putting. He also came in off a missed cut at the Valspar Championship last week. None of that mattered with the chips down on Sunday afternoon at Bay Hill and the world watching to see what Tiger and others would do.
 
McIlroy gained 10 strokes on the field this week with his putter and finished first in that category.
 
Justin Rose (3rd) has now finished in the top 10 in 13 of his last 15 events worldwide. Even more remarkably than that, Rose was 4 over through six holes on Thursday in Round 1 here. That means he played his final 68 holes in 18 under.
 
Henrik Stenson (4th) got run over by an amped-up McIlroy. He played 2 under overall on the weekend, but McIlroy putted as well as he's ever putted in a PGA Tour event. Stenson finished with his sixth top 15 in the last seven years at Bay Hill.
 
Tiger Woods (T5) was fabulous before fading with a bogey-bogey-par finish. Every facet of the game except for the driver is in tremendous shape. He finished in the top 20 in strokes gained on approach shots, around the greens and with the putter. Even an average week with the driver could have yielded a victory. It's Woods' first back-to-back top-five finishes since the 2013 Masters and Player Championship.
 
Rickie Fowler (T14) contended for a while on Saturday before fading with a double bogey at the final hole in Round 3 and 74 on Sunday. However, he noted earlier in the week that the outcome at Bay Hill wouldn't affect how he felt about the week as a whole. Fowler served as one of the tournament hosts and took home the Philanthropy Award presented by the Arnie's Army Charitable Foundation.

Townhall Top of the Hour News

Local Weather - Sponsored By:

CLINTON WEATHER

Local News

DeWittDN on Facebook