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Jason Day Wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Wire-to-Wire Fashion

By Matt Cochran

Mar 20, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Jason Day of Australia smiles as he walks onto the second green after chipping the ball in for a birdie during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Master Card at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2016; Orlando, FL, USA; Jason Day of Australia smiles as he walks onto the second green after chipping the ball in for a birdie during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Master Card at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jason Day holds off a packed leaderboard to go wire-to-wire and win the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Here’s how the Aussie collected his eighth PGA TOUR victory.

It’s was the kind of Sunday Shootout the King would have wanted. The final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational featured names like Jason Day and Henrik Stenson battling for the top spot, but Kevin Chappell and Troy Merritt weren’t to be counted out.

The Aussie entered Sunday with a two-shot lead at (-13), but an up and down front nine prevented him from making any moves.

Henrik Stenson sat one back of the lead down the stretch, but a costly water ball on the 16th hole led to a bogey and dropped him back down to (-14) and three shots off the lead.

Meanwhile, Troy Merrit and Kevin Chappell put together rounds of (-3) by the 16th hole to get a share of the lead and it was Day, Merritt, and Chappell all tied with the lead at (-16). A three-way tie that would be short-lived.

Chappell had a tap in birdie on the par-5 16th to put his name at the top of the leaderboard with (-17). Day couldn’t take advantage of the par 5 and ended up with a par.

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Merritt flew the green on the par-3 17th and chunked his chip to sit just off the green. Needing to make his third shot, he pulled the flag and aggressively went at the hole. It was a play that paid off because he drained the chip to remain at (-16).

Merrit’s playing partner, Jason Day, put his tee shot in the center of the green to leave himself with a 12 footer for birdie. The Aussie drained the putt to give himself a share of the lead heading into 18.

Making things easier for Day, Chappell found trouble with his tee shot on 18 and finished with a bogey to drop back down to (-16) and enter the clubhouse with the lead. Just like that, Day had the lead as he stood on the 18th tee. He didn’t help himself out with his tee shot, however. Day had a drive similar to Chappell’s in the right rough.

Merritt needed a birdie on 18 to give himself a chance and had a perfect drive in the middle of the fairway, but his approach shot came up just short and dunked into the water, knocking him out of contention. It all came down to Jason Day.

Day put his approach into the greenside bunker, leaving him with a long bunker shot and needing an up and down finish to win.

With bunker play being one of his strong suits, the Aussie snuck his shot within four feet. He’s the number three golfer in the world for a reason, people. Day drained the putt to pick up his eight career PGA TOUR victory and win the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

It was a wire-to-wire victory for Jason Day. He ranked fourth in strokes gained throughout the week, sixth in stroke gained putting, and fifth in putts per green in regulation.

Next: WGC-Dell Match Play Top-10 Power Rankings

The PGA TOUR heads to Texas next week for the WGC-Dell Match Play, while other golfers who are outside the top 60 in the OWGR will head to the Puerto Rico Open.

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