Martin Laird hangs on to win Arnold Palmer Invitational

Martin Laird made it a Scottish 1-2 following Paul Lawrie’s win on the European Tour, with victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. However, Laird’s win might be down to others throwing the win away, as much as it is Laird’s battling to win.

Leading by two shots overnight, Laird bogeyed the third hole and followed with two more on the seventh and nine holes as he frittered away his lead. A double-bogey on the 11th hole saw him five-over for the day and his lead was gone, as Steve Marino birdied the 9th and 10th to take over at the top of the leaderboard.

However, the Scot was in no mood to be denied and although his birdie at the 12th was cancelled out by a bogey at the 14th, he made back-to-back gains at the 15th and 16th holes.

Laird’s cause was helped in no small measure when Marino then conspired to throw victory away with a bogey at the 15th hole, and followed up with a double-bogey at the 17th hole. A birdie at the last wasn’t enough, and Laird – left with two putts to win, rolled his first to inside three feet and then holed out for the win.

“That was a hell of a day,” Laird said afterwards. “That was a tough fight out there. It was a battle out there, but you know, it makes it even sweeter at the end when I got this trophy.”

Laird finished with a three-over par 75 to close on 8-under par 280 for the tournament, one shot ahead of Marino, who finished with a level-par 72.

Justin Rose shot a final round 68 to claim a share of third place with David Toms and Marc Leishman; while KJ Choi and Spencer Levin shared sixth spot on 5-under par.

Sergio Garcia continued his comeback with a closing 70 to take sole possession of eighth place on 4-under par.

Tiger Woods, who has won six times at Bay Hill previously, had his sights set on a second successive top-10 finish in 2011, but a bogey on the 17th and a double-bogey on the 18th hole dropped the former world number one back into a tie for 24th place, seven behind the leader. He was joined by Phil Mickelson, who dropped three shots in his last five holes.

Laird maintains Bay Hill lead after third round

Scotsman Martin Laird shot a third round 70 to take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, setting up a potential Scottish 1-2 with fellow Scot Paul Lawrie also leading the Open de Andalucia after the third round.

Laird had seen a four shot lead earlier in the round whittled down to two shots, but it was still enough to give him the cushion over nearest challenger Spencer Levin, whose third round 71 saw him keep on the coat-tails of the lead.

The third round saw many players fail to make any real forward progress; indeed several went in the opposite direction, but Laird – who has been atop the leaderboard 3 times in his last 12 PGA Tour events heading into the final day’s play, only to lose out – kept up his own challenge with his battling round which saw five birdies and three bogeys.

Bubba Watson moved into a share of third place with Steve Marino on 7-under par following a round of 68, while David Toms and Rickie Fowler are a stroke further back.
Tiger Woods had moved into contention on Friday, but suffered another Saturday setback in his quest for a first title in two years. In the past, Saturday was usually the day Woods would hit top gear and scythe his way up the leaderboard – this time, like many others before, Woods struggled. Trading gains with dropped shots, the former world number one – a six-time winner at Bay Hill – shot a third round 74 to finish a monster 10 shots off the lead.

It’s perhaps no surprise then to know that Woods has yet to break 70 in the third round this year.

The tipster trio have it all to do if they are to provide a return. Hunter Mahan, starting the day at 6-under par shot a disappointing 75 to slide down the leaderboard into a share of 15th place on 3-under par, while Phil Mickelson and Justin Rose share 20th place, a shot further back.

Laird leads at Bay Hill

Spencer Levin had threatened to run away with the halfway lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Bay Hill. Instead he had to settle for a share of second place after a late collapse.

Having started his round with a three-shot lead, courtesy of an opening 66 on a tough day, conditions at Bay Hill were much more benign for the field on the second day’s play, and Levin threatened to take full advantage.

As one of the early starters on the day, Levin fired in three birdies in his opening six holes before turning in 3-under par, and 9-under for the tournament. That was enough to give Levin a six-shot lead over the field.

However, late bogeys on the 14th and 17th holes brought him back to the field, and despite a birdie on the last it wasn’t enough to preserve his leaders’ status.

That honour went to Scot Martin Laird, who despite bogeying the first hole, powered his way around Bay Hill en-route to a 7-under par 65 – included an eagle on the par-5 16th hole. Laird gained on all the par-5s, reaching each in two shots and could have been further clear had he taken his eagle chances on both.

Levin dropped to a share of second on 8-under par, one behind Laird, and sharing with Korean KJ Choi, who shot a best-of-the-day 64. Choi also eagled the par-5 16th hole, but didn’t drop a stroke on his second round – he had previously never shot better than 67 at Bay Hill.

“I would never have thought that I would score 8 under today on a course like this,” Choi said. “I’m just happy that I’ve done that, and I just want to keep this rhythm going on for the last two days.”

Steve Marino seems to have found a seam of consistency for 2011, and a round of 67 moved him into the higher echelons of the leaderboard on 6-under par, alongside Charles Howell III, Vaughn Taylor and tipster selection, Hunter Mahan.

Mahan recovered from a tardy start which saw him 2-over at the turn, to come home in 5-under par for a second round 69 – his second in succession, to maintain his challenge.

Rickie Fowler and Jason Dufner share 8th place on 4-under par, while Tiger Woods shot 68 to join a seven-way tie for 10th, which also includes Spaniard Sergio Garcia and Bubba Watson.

Justin Rose endured a see-saw second round, gaining a couple and then giving them back as he shot a second successive 72 to finish at half-way on level par, while Phil Mickelson’s form of the first round deserted him for the second, his 75 dropping him down to 1-over par.

Mahan close as Levin takes first round lead at blustery Bay Hill

Spencer Levin shot a stunning bogey-free first round 66 at Bay Hill, Florida to open up a three-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard.

Blustery conditions which swept across the Florida course might have made for tougher scoring, but Levin seemed to relish the gusty winds as he opened up the gap over Rickie Fowler – who had got as low as 5-under par during his round – and Hunter Mahan.

Although warm, the conditions saw only those three players break 70, and only 30 players who set out on the first round managed a score of par or better over the tough Bay Hill course.

Several big names struggled in the conditions, most notably US Open champion Graeme McDowell, who opened with a round of 80 – only one birdie against six bogeys and a triple-bogey at the par-5 8th hole tells its own story of the Portrush player’s round.

But he wasn’t alone as United States’ Ryder Cup player Jeff Overton was also blown to an opening 80, as was Jhonattan Vegas and Brandt Snedeker. And they weren’t the worst either – Japan’s Yuta Ikeda propped up the leaderboard courtesy of a 12-over 84.

In all there were 13 rounds of 80 or worse after the first round – the most at Bay Hill since 1983, where 24 rounds of 80+.

Mahan came out best on a decent opening day for the YGT tipster selections following his 3-under 69; Phil Mickelson was just a further shot back after a round of 70, while Justin Rose was among the group of 9 players who finished with a level-par round of 72.

Tiger Woods missed a 10-footer for par on the last to close with a 1-over par round of 73 – his worst opening round at Bay Hill since 1999, while last week’s Transitions winner Gary Woodland, who played with Woods and Dustin Johnson opened with a 77, as did Johnson.

Unlike previous events, Woods’ big problem wasn’t his putter – but his driver, which saw him go 0/9 on fairways hit on the front nine, before getting to grips with the big stick. Luckily for him, although wayward off the tee, he managed to avoid any serious trouble.

But the spotlight fell on Levin, leading a tournament after the first round for the third time this season – but yet to win on the Tour. Levin will be one of Friday’s early starters, where weather conditions are likely to prove a little more benign, and he will have the chance to build on an impressive opening round.

Arnold Palmer Invitational Betting Preview

Bay Hill, Florida is this week’s stop on the PGA Tour for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Bay Hill presents a tough test for golfers, with an abundance of rough, trees and water to contend with.

Tiger Woods has won this event six times, and the former world number one chalked up four straight wins between 2000-2003 and followed with back-to-back successes in 2008-2009. Following that last win, the course was revamped with the par being raised to 72. Now playing at a shade under 7,500 yards, the course remains a brutal test of golf and last year ranked the third highest of all par-72 courses on the Tour outside of the major venues.

Last year, only 23 players from the 75 that contested the weekend were under par and with the course expected to play tough once again, a similar scenario could well be on the cards.

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