Martin Laird edges past Steve Marino to win Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament – part 1
Martin Laird fired a round of 3-over par 75 and still managed to lift the Arnold Palmer Invitational trophy at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Florida.
Steve Marino, who managed to draft a score at par, settled for the second place.
Laird was one of the worst scorers of the day. He reeled four bogeys and one double-bogey against three birdies. Despite that terrible performance, the Scot won his second title on the PGA Tour.
His last victory was witnessed in 2009 at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Children Open. He was chased by Marino, who posed him some serious challenges. The American anchored two birdies in the front and two at the back to rule out the two bogeys and one
double bogey in the 18-hole session. He finished one stroke shy of the winner owing to the bogey at the 17th hole.
The 31-year-old was extremely disappointed with the results. He described the worst moments of the day in an interview after the round.
He said, “If I had to do it all over again, I would love to have played that 17th hole. I thought I hit a really good shot in there. We hit a 6-iron. Yesterday we hit a 5-iron that went over the green. I hit it really good. I thought it was going to be good,
and came up short in the bunker and then plugged. But I mean, that's pretty disappointing. I played so well all day, and just, you know, one hiccup on 17 cost me the tournament.”
A three-way tie was seen at the third spot of the leaderboard, which included Justin Rose (68), Marc Leishman (71) and David Toms (72). Rose and Leishman managed to ace one of the 18 holes, while rest of the field barely birdied gracefully.
Rose carded a 68 with a superb performance at the back nine. He birdied the opening hole and after a gap of one green, aced the par-5 12th hole. The 26th seed in the world blistered two back-to-back birdies on the 15th and
16th before dropping a shot at the following hole. He soon countered them off with a superb putt at the final hole.
Meanwhile, K.J. Choi and the first round leader Spencer Levin settled at the sixth spot of the leaderboard with an aggregate of five-under par. Levin, who opened the tournament with a 66, wrapped it up with a 76. He dropped five shots in the front and one
at the back.
On the other hand, Sergio Garcia improved folds since the start of the 6-million-dollar event and settled at 2-under par after carding three birdies and one eagle against three bogeys.
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