This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
The only way the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational could've gotten any better on Sunday would've been if Arnold Palmer himself were on it.
Tiger Woods, of course, was at the epicenter. He was joined by Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler. While Woods again came close but not close enough, we ended up with the second-most impactful result: a roaring back-nine charge to victory by McIlroy.
The onetime heir apparent to Woods -- who had fallen to his lowest world ranking in nine years as younger stars emerged – birdied five of the final six holes en route to an 8-under 64 and a three-stroke win. He left all the other boldface names in his wake, announcing that he, too, was back, just two and a half weeks before the Masters.
McIlroy moved back inside the top-10 at No. 7 by winning for the first time anywhere in the world since capturing the Tour Championship on Sept. 25, 2016 – the very day that Palmer died.
"I wish I walked up that hill and got a handshake from him," McIlroy told reporters in Orlando. "But I'm so happy to put my name on that trophy."
With Woods getting back onto the scene in a big way of late, plus Phil Mickelson winning a few weeks back, Masters fever was already at the equivalent of DEFCON 3 and it didn't seem it couldn't be ratcheted up much further. But with McIlroy emerging from his long, injury-laden
The only way the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational could've gotten any better on Sunday would've been if Arnold Palmer himself were on it.
Tiger Woods, of course, was at the epicenter. He was joined by Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler. While Woods again came close but not close enough, we ended up with the second-most impactful result: a roaring back-nine charge to victory by McIlroy.
The onetime heir apparent to Woods -- who had fallen to his lowest world ranking in nine years as younger stars emerged – birdied five of the final six holes en route to an 8-under 64 and a three-stroke win. He left all the other boldface names in his wake, announcing that he, too, was back, just two and a half weeks before the Masters.
McIlroy moved back inside the top-10 at No. 7 by winning for the first time anywhere in the world since capturing the Tour Championship on Sept. 25, 2016 – the very day that Palmer died.
"I wish I walked up that hill and got a handshake from him," McIlroy told reporters in Orlando. "But I'm so happy to put my name on that trophy."
With Woods getting back onto the scene in a big way of late, plus Phil Mickelson winning a few weeks back, Masters fever was already at the equivalent of DEFCON 3 and it didn't seem it couldn't be ratcheted up much further. But with McIlroy emerging from his long, injury-laden funk, we're at DEFCON 2.
My goodness, at this point the only thing that could trigger golf's DEFCON 1 would be a victory this week or next by the similarly struggling Jordan Spieth (pardon … head explodes at the thought).
Spieth's protracted putting woes right now make it hard to envision that happening. On the other hand, the same sentence could've been written last Thursday about McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman arrived stateside in mid-January and did little in his first four starts: only one top-25 and two missed cuts, including last week at the Valspar. The focal point of his woes was apparent, as he ranked 124th on Tour in strokes gained: putting.
But at Bay Hill, McIlroy had his best putting tournament ever, only 100 putts for the week. Combined with perhaps the sport's best tee-to-green game – he was seventh in SG: tee to green at the API – McIlroy immediately has climbed near the top of an increasingly crowded Masters favorites list.
Woods is at the top. Then there's McIlroy and Mickelson, and also Spieth -- because he's still Spieth. We haven't even mentioned the top three golfers in the world rankings, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm. And don't forget about world No. 5 Rose, who was solo third at Bay Hill, and No. 8 Fowler, another one with a shaky game of late who showed real signs of a turnaround during the week. He was in the mix on the back nine on Sunday only to finish with a horrid double-double, sealing a T14 disappointment and perhaps a call from the marketing folk at In-N-Out Burger.
We'll see most of those guys, including McIlroy, this week at the WGC-Match Play Championship. Then comes Houston. And then Augusta. That's when we'll next see Woods.
It can't come soon enough.
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Tiger Woods
Another week, another close call. Even though Woods finished a whopping eight strokes behind McIlroy to share fifth place, he was only one shot off the lead when he came to the 16th tee. A disastrous out-of-bounds tee ball ended his chances, and he bogeyed both 16 and 17, while McIlroy went on a birdie barrage. Woods is now on the cusp of returning to the top-100 (he's 105th) after a second straight top-five. See you in two weeks, Tiger.
Henrik Stenson
Stenson probably left Bay Hill with a bad taste in his mouth, having led for much of the tournament. But after missing the cut at the Valspar, his solo fourth leaves his game in better shape heading to the Masters. Stenson is not one of the favorites because of his putting, something that failed him on Sunday. The Swede moved back up to No. 14 in the world.
Bryson DeChambeau
A lot of weeks – in fact, most weeks – DeChambeau would've been good enough to win. McIlroy was just that dominant at the end. DeChambeau more than held his own with the big boys to finish as the solo runner-up, his third top-10 of the season. He's also up to a career-best 61st in the world, though we won't see him in the Match Play because he opened the week at No. 95. But DeChambeau will be at Augusta. It's a lot to ask of him to contend there, but it's apparent the former U.S. Amateur champion in the world will be contending often as his career really takes off.
Justin Rose
There are a bunch of guys who will have shorter odds at Augusta than Rose. But don't sleep on the world No. 5, whose solo third at Bay Hill was his second straight top-five. And of course Rose has been runner-up at the Masters two of the past three years, with another top-10 squeezed in between. Really, you could do worse than pick Rose to win his second major.
Luke List
List impressively tied for seventh at Bay Hill, continuing the best stretch by far of his career. Just a few weeks back he lost a playoff to Justin Thomas at the Honda. Since late January, he's played four other tournaments with nothing worse than a T26. Because of some withdrawals, List got into the Match Play despite being outside the top-64 at the cutoff. He could make some noise there this week.
Emiliano Grillo
Grillo was Rookie of the Year two seasons ago, then stumbled as a sophomore. But he's quietly strung together some good results early in his third full season on Tour, including a T26 at Bay Hill. There also was a T8 at the Honda and a T12 at Torrey Pines. Why the sudden interest in Grillo? At No. 75, he will be highest-ranked golfer at this week's tournament opposite the Match Play, the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic. Just something to consider if you're playing DFS for this event.
Hideki Matsuyama
After missing one and a half months with an injured hand, simply emerging healthy is the key takeaway for Matsuyama. He played decently for three and a half rounds rounds before a back-nine 40 dropped him to a T49. Matsuyama is set to play the Match Play, then presumably will take a week off before Augusta. All things considered, Matsuyama backers should be happy right now – or maybe the better word is "relieved."
Jimmy Walker
Do you remember on Thursday when Walker was among the leaders with a 67? After a 76-74-79, Walker wound up tied for 73rd. Walker is trying to rejuvenate his career after being diagnosed with Lyme disease. He's had some good rounds here and there. But that's bound to happen – feel good one day, not so good the next. We're not saying that's what happened to Walker this week, but you'll always be taking a risk by inserting Walker in your lineup.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Yuta Ikeda, Si-Woo Kim, Kevin Kisner, Patton Kizzire, Satoshi Kodaira, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Cameron Smith
All 10 of the them missed the Bay Hill cut, and all 10 of them are in the Match Play. With a long week ahead for those golfers who will go deep into the Match Play – seven rounds over five days for the two finalists -- missing the cut isn't the worst thing that could've happened. Don't weigh these trunk-slams too heavily.
