Lee Westwood found new life at age 47 on the European Tour earlier this year. On Saturday, he brought his resurrected game out of storage and flashed around Bay Hill with a dazzling 65 that set him up on a Sunday date with the ultimate bomber — Bryson DeChambeau.
Westy is the 54-hole leader at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at 11-under, one better than DeChambeau, who finished with 68. Westwood is no stranger to this event as he played for the first time back in 1998.
“I’m not the longest anymore,” Westwood said. “I like the way you have to shape your tee shots here.”
What shaped Westwood’s round was an eagle at the par five 16th where he chipped in from just off the green for a three. At 18, he hit a gem of a second shot from 162 yards to 28 feet then holed the putt for a closing birdie and a seven-under par round.
DeChambeau’s round had one of its high moments when he took aim at the sixth green with a large gallery watching. The crowd roared as Bryson ball went right of the green, flew 344 yards and settled just 50 yards right of the green. Had it been more on line, it would have carried onto the putting surface. “To have the opportunity to deliver was special. It was amazing,” DeChambeau said, hearing a large crowd reaction for the first time since the COVID pandemic cleared the courses of spectators.
DeChambeau also hit an amazing shot to close out his round. His tee shot at the 18th went well right into a poor, thick lie in the dense rough. He somehow muscled the shot onto the putting surface to finish with an easy two-putt par. “At 18, a year ago, I wouldn’t have ben able to do it,” he pointed out.
DeChambeau will play with Westwood in the final twosome on Sunday.
Up ahead of them will be Corey Connors and Keegan Bradley. Connors was unspectacular but steady on day three, finishing with a 71 to get in at 10-under. Earlier in the day, Keegan Bradley made up a ton of ground when he came in with the week’s low round — and eight-under par 64. He finished at nine-under, tied with Jordan Spieth.
It was Spieth who had the craziest round on Saturday. He birdied the difficult first hole then hit a five-iron into the 221-yard second that landed on the right fringe, kicked left and started rolling like a putt, taking a perfect line towards and eventually into the hole for an ace. Jordy was three-under through two holes then promptly duck-hooked his tee shot into the lake at the third but holed a 32-footer for par there. After that, it was a crazy, roller-coaster Spieth round and he’d eventually sign for a 68 after bogey at the 17th dropped him out of the group at 10=under.
Spieth was missing fairways all day but his short game kept him in it, he had nine putts over the first nine holes.
“A dream start,” was how Spieth described the first two holes. “Kinda leaked some oil coming in. My driver was off, I have to fix that for tomorrow. I didn’t quite have it today but I’m looking forward to another Sunday,” Spieth added, as he’s in contention yet again.
