Weather pushes Palmer final round to Monday
Tiger Woods is tough to beat with final-round leads, but he couldn’t hold off Mother Nature on Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational at stormy Bay Hill Golf & Lodge in Orlando, Fla. A violent thunderstorm packing 62 mph gusts dropped nearly 1 1/2 inches of rain on the course, forcing tournament officials to suspend play at 2:03 p.m. ET until 10 a.m. on Monday.
Tiger, seeking his third PGA TOUR victory of the year, began the final round with a two-stroke advantage over Rickie Fowler, John Huh and Justin Rose. Woods completed two holes, pouring in a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-3 second. As it stands, he is now at 12-under for the tournament, three strokes ahead of playing partner Fowler, Huh, Keegan Bradley and Ken Duke.
“At least we got a little activity in today, so we’re not completely stagnant,” said Woods. “We’ve dealt with this before.”
Woods, a seven-time winner at Bay Hill and the defending champion, has won 51-of-55 times on the PGA TOUR when tied or leading after 54 holes. A victory Monday would lift him to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since October of 2010.
It’s the third time this year the PGA TOUR has been pushed to a Monday finish due to inclement weather, and only the third Monday finish in 35 years at Bay Hill.
