DeChambeau Overpowers Bay Hill to Win Arnold Palmer Invitational
Bryson DeChambeau overpowered Bay Hill to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday evening down in Florida.
DeChambeau finished 11-under for the tournament, one shot better than Lee Westwood and two shots better than Corey Connors.
He sealed the win with a knee knocking five foot putt on the 18th hole after Westwood made a clutch par putt to put the pressure on.
It is DeChambeau’s eighth career victory on the PGA Tour.
DeChambeau’s Power on Display
A major storyline heading into the tournament was “could DeChambeau drive the green on the par-5 6th hole?”
Well, he never really drove the green, but he came awfully close.
After not doing it on Thursday and Friday, DeChambeau hit huge drives on Saturday and Sunday to leave him a second shot of about 90 yards or less – on a par 5.
He made birdie on both days.
There were several other instances in which DeChambeau’s ball ended up in the deep, gnarly rough and he was able to muscle it out and even put it on the green in some cases.
Other players, his competitors, were unable to do that.
Westwood’s Blown Opportunity
Westwood entered the day with a one shot lead over DeChambeau.
After DeChambeau took the outright lead on the back-9, the Tour veteran had a great opportunity on the par 5 16th.
DeChambeau put his drive in the bunker and it was right under the lip, meaning he would have to chip it out. Westwood was in the middle of the fairway with a chance to get on the green in two.
However, he left his second shot in the rough and then chipped it several feet by the flag.
Westwood missed the birdie putt and DeChambeau saved par. No blood.