It looked for all intents and purposes like the highest ranked players at the Arnold Palmer Invitational would take a collective first round dive at Bay Hill.
With cold air and wind greeting the early wave only Jason Day emerged from that group with a score he could write home about.
Day, the defending champion, braved those chilly conditions and opened with a two-under par 70 that left him just three behind co-leaders Emiliano Grillo and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
Fifth-ranked Henrik Stenson had the worst of it in the morning and finished with a three-over par 75. Fourth-ranked Hideki Matsuyama didn’t take to the chill very well either. The Japanese star put up a 73.
It was warmer in the afternoon but that didn’t help third-ranked Rory McIlroy. He finished with a two-over par 74.
Collectively, the four highest-ranked players in the field combined for a four-over par effort. Without Day, it would have been worse.
Day was pretty consistent with three birdies and a single bogey for his day’s work.
Day cited the cold temperatures as a factor that made it tough to judge yardage. “It was cold and I was hitting it 15-20 yards shorter than normal with some clubs. A 4-iron that normally goes 220 was going only 200. It was hard to commit to the numbers out there.”
Fitzpatrick, one of Europe’s fast-rising young stars, was one of very few players to put together a bogey-free round.
“Just very consistent with everything,” he explained. “Actually didn’t hit too many close and didn’t have too many chances inside 15 feet, but I holed some good putts and that’s important out here, so it was a good day.”
It wasn’t a good day for Masters champion Danny Willett. He was up most of the night Wednesday feeling ill and he finally withdrew from the tournament Thursday morning about an hour before his tee time.
