ORLANDO, Fla. – Bay Hill provided a few dramatic turnarounds, good news for Henrik Stenson, not so much for Phil Mickelson.

Through it all, Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley kept a steady march of solid golf Friday and wound up tied for the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, four shots clear of anyone else going into the weekend on a course that has been tough all week.

Fleetwood used two new clubs to produce two eagles, which carried him to a 6-under 66. Bradley, with the renewed confidence of a player who last year ended six years without a PGA Tour victory, made all but one of his six birdies on the par 4s and had a 68.

They were at 9-under 135, the highest score to lead Bay Hill through 36 holes since 2013.

Tiger Woods wound up winning that year, which won’t be the case. Woods is home nursing a sore neck. That also was the last time Mickelson was at Bay Hill, and this trip lasted only two days.

Mickelson hit a pair of horrific drives – one out-of-bound, another into water he couldn’t see off the tee at No. 8 – that led to double bogeys. With only one birdie on his card, Mickelson was 10 shots worse than his opening round and posted a 78. He missed the cut by one shot.

“It’s a penalizing course if you don’t hit very good shots, and I hit some terrible shots today,” Mickelson said. “That’s probably the score I deserved.”

On the other side was Stenson, who opened with a 77 and then headed to the range with swing coach Pete Cowen. The former British Open champion responded with a 66, an 11-shot improvement, that left him eight shots behind, though still a tee time Saturday.

“A couple of hockey sticks yesterday and a 66 today. That was a nice turnaround,” Stenson said. “It seemed like I was hitting it good yesterday, didn’t quite feel like I was in the same groove this morning in the warmup, and yeah, I still have to fight a little bit out there.”

Even with a four-shot advantage, Fleetwood and Bradley have to be concerned with more than themselves in the final group. Bradley would know from experience. He was eight shots behind going into the weekend in 2014 and was the runner-up by one shot, mainly courtesy of Adam Scott’s troubled weekend.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., British Open champion Francesco Molinari, Honda Classic winner Keith Mitchel and Billy Horschel led a pack of players at 5-under 139. The group another shot back included Masters champions Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson, and Eddie Pepperell, who is playing a regular PGA Tour event for the first time and got caught with his pants up.

Actually, Pepperell did that himself. He was all too proud to roll up his pant legs and show off his new socks, which have an image of Jack Nicklaus making his birdie putt at Augusta National the year he won his sixth Masters.

“Best round of the year, and probably a decade for me,” Pepperell said.

Never mind that this is the tournament named after Jack’s rival. But it seemed to work.

Fleetwood, a three-time winner on the European Tour, is ready to take the next step by winning in America, and he looked up to the task. Without an equipment contract ever since Nike got out of the club business, the Englishman is free to mix-and-match.

He had five brands of equipment in his bag, and two new ones stood one.

One is a Srixon 4-iron, which he hammered from 224 yards over the corner of the lake to 18 feet on the par-5 sixth for eagle.

The other was a Ping 7-wood that he took possession of on Tuesday, hit two shots and was sold on it. That replaced his 5-wood, the last Nike club he had. Fleetwood was 275 yards to the hole on the par-5 12th, and no sooner was the ball in the air that caddie Ian Finnis said, “Good shot.”

Finnish never says such a thing until the ball actually returns to Earth, but he had a hunch on this one, and he was right. The ball landed just right and rolled out to 6 feet behind the flag on the upper right shelf of the green.

“I couldn’t have got a wedge as close as I actually hit it to that back right pin,” Fleetwood said.

He made that eagle putt, too.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy made a little headway with a 70, leaving him seven shots behind.

“The golf course is hard,” said McIlroy, who won last year at 18-under 270, “Two under is in the top 20. Last year it got firm on the weekend. But the weekend conditions came early – cold weather at the start of the week, and it’s dry. It’s probably more of a test off the tee than the last few weeks. If I hit fairways on the weekend, I’ll feel like I’ve got a good chance.”

Adam Hadwin (75) of Abbotsford, B.C., is well back at 1 over and Corey Conners (78) of Listowel, Ont., missed the cut.

KENT, Ohio  – Longtime Kent State golf coach Herb Page will retire at the end of this season and end his storied run at the school.

Page has coached the Golden Flashes since 1977, building the men’s golf program into one of the nation’s most consistent and decorated. Under Page, Kent State has won 22 Mid-American Conference titles, appeared in 17 NCAA championships and he’s had 28 All-Americans, including Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion.

“I feel Herb is the best coach in America,” Curtis said. “The record shows that, but the support he provides to all former players is phenomenal, no matter what the player moves onto after graduation. I would not have had the success that I’ve had without his coaching, guidance, support and friendship.”

Page was also instrumental in launching Kent State’s women’s golf program in 1998. The Golden Flashes have won 20 straight MAC titles.

He’s been the conference’s top coach 23 times.

“Kent State means so much to me,” said Page, who played three sports at the school in the early 1970s. “I am forever grateful to the university and all of the administrators, staff and student-athletes I have had the privilege of coaching, who made our golf program so successful. This is my alma mater and the Kent community has been my home ever since.

“But most of all, I am indebted to the wonderful student-athletes I have worked with. It is humbling to reflect on all that they have achieved over the past 41 years and the amazing memories that we have made together.”

Succeeding Page will be fellow Canadian golf coach Jon Mills, the current assistant men’s coach at Kent State.

Page was announced as the first-ever coach to be inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame earlier this year. Page, along with Canadian Champions Tour standout Rod Spittle, will join the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame during an induction ceremony that will take place Tuesday, June 4, during RBC Hall of Fame Day as part of the 2019 RBC Canadian Open on the grounds of Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

Herb Page & Corey Conners

ORLANDO, Fla. – Rafa Cabrera Bello had a Bay Hill debut to remember with a 7-under 65 for a two-shot lead while playing with Arnold Palmer’s grandson.

The entertainment, as usual, came from Phil Mickelson.

Back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the first time in six years, Mickelson capped off a wild round by nearly holing his approach from the 18th fairway for his seventh birdie on a round that will be remembered more for the shot Lefty tried to play right-handed .

“It didn’t turn out the best,” Mickelson said after rallying for a 68.

Thanks to the new Rules of Golf, it could have been worse.

Mickelson, who won at Bay Hill in 1997, was cruising along until his tee shot on the 10th hole went well to the left and settled under a mesh fence that was out-of-bounds, with just enough of the ball inside the stakes that he could try to play it.

Of course, he did.

Standing on the other side of the fence, his best play was to invert a 9-iron and try to smash it right-handed through the mesh netting.

“I was able to get clear – I thought – clean contact on it from a right-handed shot perspective,” he said. “I thought I hit it pretty good.”

He looked up toward the green and was surprised to see the ball a few feet in front of him. By hitting the mesh fence, it rolled up and snagged the ball, which eventually spit out of the fence and this time landed out-of-bounds.

The old rule would have meant hitting his next shot from the same spot under the fence. The new rule for a stroke-and-distance penalty allowed him to move it one club length away. Mickelson was able to get that one to the front of the green, and he two-putted from 30 feet to salvage a double bogey.

“That definitely helped,” Mickelson said. “I didn’t want to play that shot again.”

He didn’t think the first shot was all that difficult, but he at least rallied with three birdies that left him three shots out of the lead.

“I’ve made a lot of doubles in my day,” Mickelson said. “It’s one more, it doesn’t even hurt.”

Keegan Bradley played bogey-free for a 67 in the morning, as did Cabrera Bello. Mickelson was in the group at 68 along with Graeme McDowell, Bubba Watson, Patrick Rodgers and Billy Horschel.

British Open champion Francesco Molinari made one of two aces on the day – the other belonged to D.A. Points – and was among those at 69.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy opened with a 72.

Cabrera Bello opened with four birdies in six holes in the morning chill, and he put together another run of birdies on the front nine that included consecutive putts from the 30-foot range. The rest of the Spaniard’s putts were from 6 feet or closer.

“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Cabrera Bello said. “I know how nice and tough the course is and I think it’s a course with many, many daunting shots. So I feel the more you play it, probably the better. So I wasn’t really having much high expectations as opposed to just getting out there and playing my golf.”

Saunders had a 73 and was along for the ride with Cabrera Bello, who capped off his round with a 10-foot par putt.

“Playing with Sam is always a pleasure, not because he’s the grandson of Arnie but because of how nice of a guy he is,” Cabrera Bello said. “Obviously, playing at Bay Hill with him I know how special this event is for all of us, I can only imagine how special it is for him.”

Cabrera Bello is No. 34 in the world, winless since the Scottish Open in 2017.

Canadians Roger Sloan and Adam Hadwin were five shots off the lead in a tie for 14th place while Corey Conners was six shots back.

McDowell was among the first tournament ambassadors after Palmer died as a longtime supporter at Bay Hill. This could be a big week for him in other ways. The British Open returns to Northern Ireland this summer for the first time since 1951, and Bay Hill for the first time is part of the Open Qualifying Series. The top three players not already exempt from the top 10 at Bay Hill will get into Royal Portrush.

“I only found that out on Tuesday, to be honest with you,” McDowell said. “But, listen, I’m focusing really on the big picture right now. I’m kind of the opinion that good golf will take care of the things that I want to take care of. And it’s hard enough going out there trying to get your golf ball around 18 holes here at this great golf course and just trying to stay in the moment.”

Justin Rose, who has a chance to return to No. 1 in the world this week, opened with a 71.

Jason Day, the last player to win at Bay Hill before Palmer died in 2016, withdrew after six holes because of a back injury. Day was coming off a three-week break.

When Brittany Marchand was being recruited by American universities, she made it clear that she wanted to study chemical engineering while playing NCAA golf. After several schools told her she couldn’t be a varsity athlete while undertaking such an academically rigorous degree, Marchand found a home at North Carolina State University.

Now starting her second season on the LPGA Tour, Marchand is working to encourage young athletes to pursue their dreams in sports and in education at the same time. The native of Orangeville, Ont., has become an ambassador for Golf Canada’s Future Links Golf in Schools, a program that teaches the game to children.

Marchand joins that program a year after throwing her support behind Let’s Talk Science, a Canadian charitable organization committed to building youth interest in science, engineering and technology.

“I want to be an ambassador to show that it’s definitely possible to do it all,” Marchand said. “Obviously it takes a lot of discipline and hard work, but it’s possible.”

“I did my degree in five years because I wanted to do well in both – golf and school – so I spread my major out, playing four years for the golf team and then my fifth year I did more lab-heavy, time-heavy courses.”

Marchand is also motivated to be an ambassador for Golf in Schools and Let’s Talk Science because of their messages of inclusivity. She wants children to understand that regardless of their background or gender, they can achieve their professional goals.

Brittany Marchand at the 2018 CP Women’s Open in Regina, Saskatchewan (Photo: Bernard Brault/ Golf Canada)

“I’m big on school and I’m also big on promoting the game to every kid,” said Marchand, who will have a Golf in Schools logo on her bag this season. “I think that’s the one thing about golf that’s tough is that it’s extremely expensive and it’s not usually seen as an all-inclusive sport for every family.

“I think that the Golf in Schools program is great because it introduces the game to every kid.”

Marchand especially wants to reach girls and young women interested in pursuing careers in science or professional sports – both areas that are traditionally dominated by men.

“I think if you grow up and you end up finding a passion in science, math, engineering, whatever it is, or if it’s in golf or another sport that’s more male-dominated, then stick to doing what you love and if you work hard it’s definitely achievable,” Marchand said. “Don’t listen to the voices of no. Stick with what you know is true to yourself.”

Golf Canada’s chief sport officer Jeff Thompson, who oversees the Future Links program as well as the country’s amateur and high-performance teams, believes Marchand is the perfect ambassador for the Golf in Schools program.

“She has a personal interest, she wants to go into a couple of schools herself, she really wants to get hands on when she has the time,” Thompson said. “She came through our Team Canada program and is currently a member of our Young Pro Squad, so we’ve had relationships with and supported Brittany throughout her career. I think it was a really great gesture on her part to give back to the sport.”

Marchand has also applied her analytical mind to her golf game.

The 26-year-old made 13 cuts in her rookie season on the LPGA Tour, including a career-best tie for seventh at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic in Oneida, Wis. She worked on several aspects of her technical game in the off-season, especially ball striking, but also noticed that her mental game needed work.

Looking back over her scorecards from last season, Marchand noticed that she tended to fade in the third or fourth round. In response, she has worked on meditating every day and making use of a FocusBand, a headband that monitors brainwaves and transmits them to a phone-based app. She said practising while wearing the apparatus has helped her clear her mind and focus on her game.

“I think expecting to go out there and come in the top 10 every week, it can happen, but you don’t have to force it,” said Marchand, who will next play in the Founders Cup in Phoenix on March 21. “I think the more you force it the more you will struggle with finishes.”

SINGAPORE – Sung Hyun Park made sure there were no anxious moments as she closed in on her sixth LPGA Tour victory on Sunday at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

Four strokes behind No. 1 Ariya Jutanugarn at the start of the final round, the world No. 2 birdied five of her first seven holes and added four more birdies on the back nine for an 8-under 64 and a two-stroke victory.

Over the first three rounds, Park was 3-over on the back nine. Park had a four-round total of 15-under 273 at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong course.

Park has traditionally had a slow start to the new season.

“So last year, my shots and like overall thing was pretty unstable in the beginning of the season, and I think my training in the last winter really helped me a lot, and it also helped me to be stronger with my play,” she said.

Congrats to our 2017 champ ?, Sung Hyun Park, who came from 4-shots behind to win the 2019 HSBC Women's World Championship pic.twitter.com/hb0C90EtoH

— CP Women's Open (@cpwomensopen) March 3, 2019

“I didn’t think I would win this fast … I think I will play really comfortable the rest of my season.”

Canada’s Brooke Henderson finished in a tie for 15th place.

No. 3-ranked Minjee Lee, who led for part of the front nine Sunday, was second after a 69. Lee also finished second last week at the LPGA’s Thailand tournament, one stroke behind winner Amy Yang.

Amy Olson, who led after Friday’s second round, shot 70 and the American finished in a tie for fifth, five strokes behind.

Jutanuguran shot 75 and finished in a tie for eighth, seven strokes behind Park.

“Sung Hyun, she’s such a great golfer; I’m not surprised she shot 8-under because she’s the best to me, so just congrats to her,” said Jutanuguran. “She’s great.”