Jason Day makes no secret that he’s been getting advice from Tiger Woods.
He put it to good use in a thriller of a finish Sunday at Bay Hill.
Day found himself locked in a back nine battle with Kevin Chappell, Troy Merritt and Henrik Stenson and in the end, it was Day who came though in the clutch, under the pressure, while the rest faltered enough for the Aussie to pick up his eighth PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“It means the world,” Day said after he made an incredible up-and-down for par at the 72nd hole, hitting a 120-foot bunker shot within four feet then canning the putt for victory and a winning score of 17-under par.
“I got a text from Tiger this morning,” Day said after shooting another 70 that was good enough to edge Chappel by a shot and three better than Stenson and Merritt. “I ground it out today and got it done when I wasn’t quite on.”
Day struggled with his iron game all day. The 16th hole typified his struggles. He launched a massive 343-yard tee shot and had only 175 yards to the hole, a mere seven-iron. He pulled it badly into a bunker long-left and would not make birdie on the easiest hole at Bay Hill.
Day trailed Chappell by a shot and was tied with Merritt. Stenson bowed out with a bogey at 16 after hitting his second shot in the water. Chappell then hit a tee shot off the 18th that would cost him a chance to get his first win. It found the thick right rough, he laid up, hit a wedge to 20 feet and finished with a bogey.
While Chappell was making bogey, Day hit a fantastic tee shot at 17 to 12-feet and holed it for what would be the winning birdie.
Merritt stayed within a shot with a chip-in for par at 17, a theme that saw him make five straight birdies to start the final nine.
Day hit his drive off 18 in the rough but was far enough right to avoid the thick stuff and had a near-perfect lie. He hit it in the left back bunker then made the fantastic play.
Merritt had a chance to get to 17-under until he fanned his second shot in the water and wound up with double-bogey and finished at 14-under with Stenson.
Chappell watched as Day holed the winning putt. “I’d like to have the drive on 18 back,” he lamented. “I know I’m a good player. I know I can get this done.”
Chappell will have to wait again for that first win.
In the meantime, Day looks forward to the Masters and more advice from Woods.
“We’ve become friends and I like to pick his mind when I can,” Day said.
Whatever advice Woods gave Day, it came in handy.
Day did the rest.
