AUSTIN, Texas –With a big lead on the back nine, Jordan Spieth put the ball in water again.

Gulp.

This time, there was no collapse, just a grind-it-out “must win” to beat Japan’s Yuta Ikeda in Thursday’s second round at the Dell Technologies Match Play in gusty wind that lived up to the legendary tough conditions of Texas golf.

Spieth beat Ikeda 4-and-2 at the Austin Country Club a day after losing his first-round match by the same score to Japan’s Hideto Tanihara.

Thursday’s victory, coupled with the draw between Tanihara and Ryan Moore, leaves Spieth needing to beat Moore on Friday and for Tanihara to draw or lose to Ikeda if Spieth is to move on to Saturday’s knockout rounds.

“I’ve got to play better than I did the last two days and I know that. I’ve just got to have complete trust because why not at this point. It’s a win or go home situation,” Spieth said.

Beating Ikeda took some work in conditions that saw gusts top 30 mph, often blowing straight in the golfer’s faces.

The pair made the turn with Spieth 2-up before he stuck his tee shot to within 18 inches on the par-3 11th and tapped in for birdie to win the hole. But Spieth hit a wild tee shot on No. 13 that plunked into the Colorado River – much wider than Rae’s Creek at Augusta – and he peeled out of the shot in disgust.

Instead of seizing the opening for a rally, Ikeda’s tee shot splashed as well. They halved the hole and Spieth steadily closed out the match without any mistakes the rest of the way.

“We both made a mess of the 13th, but all in all, it was a step in the right direction after yesterday,” Spieth said, referring to his opening-round 4-and-2 loss to Tanihara.

As a Texas native, playing in the Lone Star State provides both a comfort zone and an emotional pressure cooker for Spieth.

He plays in front of adoring galleries who cheer his big shots and groan over his mistakes. Youngsters plead for autographs or high-fives whenever he’s within reaching distance. And the Austin Country Club, where he played several times during his short college career at the University of Texas provides a familiar layout of rolling hills and windy riverside greens.

The pressure of his week also comes from what awaits him in two weeks: a return to the Masters, where he won in 2015 but blew a five-shot lead on the back nine last year in an epic collapse as England’s Danny Willett won.

Willett, playing in Spieth’s home territory, has had a ragged tournament with two losses already. A 6-and-5 loss to Bill Haas on Friday eliminated Willett from playing on the weekend.

Before he’d even teed up in Austin, Spieth said he’s ready for this year’s Masters and the questions about the collapse to be behind him. Then he opened the match play tournament with the loss to Tanihara.

Needing a win Thursday just to give himself a chance to get to the championship rounds, Spieth was greeted with a large crowd at the first tee and “Hook’em Horns!” cheers at every hole. Spieth was 3-up after eight holes as the wind belted the players on every swing.

A bogey on the par-4 10th allowed Ikeda an opening until Spieth’s laser tee shot into the 11th put him back in control.

“(Conditions) were about as tough as I think I’ve ever seen it. I couldn’t really fall back on much from school,” Spieth said. “In match play, you’re not upset with these conditions. One-on-one, I think the tougher conditions are better for us. We’ve kind of always believed that so I kind of hope tomorrow is more of the same.”

AUSTIN, Texas – Soren Kjeldsen and Alex Noren won their groups in the Dell Technologies Match Play, one round before group play is even finished.

Rory McIlroy took the day off, and he’s already guaranteed the weekend off.

Thursday was as wild as it gets in this tournament, even without wind ripping so hard through the edge of Hill Country that Phil Mickelson chipped into the water and still halved the hole.

Brandt Snedeker, showing class in the midst of such exasperating conditions, conceded a 7-foot putt when Andy Sullivan’s ball rolled up toward the hole and the wind blew it back.

“I’m sure everybody saw some funny-looking shots out there,” Charles Howell III said, who kept his hopes alive with a clutch pitch and a 1-up victory.

The wind had nothing to do with a domino-effect of withdrawals that allowed Kjeldsen and Noren to get a day of rest Friday.

One after Jason Day withdrew because his mother faces surgery for lung cancer, Gary Woodland pulled out because of a personal family matter. He was scheduled to play McIlroy in the second round, and while McIlroy was conceded a victory, he was eliminated four hours later when Kjeldsen won his second straight match. Kjeldsen was to play Woodland in the third round, so he was assured of winning the group at 3-0.

And so ended McIlroy’s week – 17 holes on Wednesday when Kjeldsen beat him with four straight birdies, no golf on Thursday, and a meaningless match Friday. All that’s left is for McIlroy to decide whether to play the Houston Open next week. He has played just 13 competitive rounds this year.

Noren, meanwhile, had an easy time over Bernd Wiesberger for his second straight victory. He only had to beat Francesco Molinari on Friday, but then Molinari withdrew with a wrist injury, assuring Noren a 3-0 record and a spot in the knockout stage this weekend.

Molinari pulling out also eliminated Wiesberger and Thongchai Jaidee, who get to face each other Friday with nothing at stake.

Along with two players already advancing, 23 players from the 64-man field already are mathematically eliminated.

It was even wilder on the golf course.

Mickelson, who has made it past the third round only once in his 12 previous appearances at Match Play, has never trailed all week and had no trouble against Daniel Berger. But the wind was gusting to 30 mph, and the sun baked out greens that became like Texas hardpan.

Berger was in the water on the par-5 12th and Mickelson was just right of the green in two. His pitch rolled – and rolled – beyond the flag, off the green and into the water. They halved with bogeys.

“It happens,” Mickelson said. “I just didn’t think that we would have the course so severe where that shot would be a problem.”

Still, Mickelson used a word seldom heard at Austin Country Club on Thursday. He said he had “fun.”

Match play made it acceptable.

Jordan Spieth stayed in the game with a 4-and-2 victory over Yuta Ikeda. They halved the 13th hole with double bogeys when Spieth hit into the water, and then Ikeda hit into the water. The wind was that strong, and it was even tougher on the greens.

Dustin Johnson had another easy time as he tries to get in position for his third straight victory, but he still has one more match to claim his group. Ditto for Brooks Koepka, who has yet to see the last five holes in competition. Koepka has closed out both his matches on the 13th hole.

Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia both won two matches and now square off Friday to see which Spaniard wins the group. That also will be the case with Charl Schwartzel and Paul Casey, 2-0 in their groups and facing each other Friday.

“Now we get into the meat of this thing,” Casey said. “For me, it’s straight knockout tomorrow. It’s enjoyable. That’s what I like, and everything is on the line.”

Everything else is still up in the air.

With round-robin play – head-to-head results do not apply in case of a tie – there’s a possibility of two-man, three-man, even four-man playoffs to decide who advances out of group play into single elimination on the weekend.

Bay Hill winner Marc Leishman also had a chance to clinch his group if he had beaten Pat Perez, because Leishman was to face Day in the third round. Perez won on the 17th hole. If he doesn’t win his match Friday, he faces Leishman in a playoff.

“I knew I had to win today. If not, Leish could go drink all night and get ready for Saturday,” Perez said. “Massive performance, I think, on my part today to get that done.”

AUSTIN, Tex. – Defending champion Jason Day lasted only six holes at the Dell Technologies Match Play until a heavy heart forced an early departure.

Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth might not be far behind.

The opening round of golf’s most unpredictable tournament took a stunning turn Wednesday when the third-seeded Day abruptly conceded his match to Pat Perez, then wiped away tears as he revealed his mother has lung cancer. Day withdrew to be with her in Ohio for surgery on Friday.

“It’s been a very, very hard time for me to even be thinking about playing golf,” Day said. “And I know my mom says not to let it get to me, but it really has. So I just need some time away with her to make sure that everything goes well because this has been very, very tough for me. So I’m going to do my best and try and be there the best I can for her because she is the reason that I’m playing golf today.”

Dustin Johnson had no trouble in his debut as the No. 1 seed. He had five birdies in his opening eight holes at Austin Country Club and there wasn’t much Webb Simpson could do, but try to extend the match as long as he could. It lasted 15 holes in a 5-and-3 victory.

“Got a long way to go, but getting the first match in the books with a win is definitely a head start,” said Johnson, who is trying to win his third straight tournament.

McIlroy (No. 2) and Spieth (No. 5) face critical matches the rest of the way.

McIlroy, the 2015 champion and a semifinalist last year, appeared to seize control against Soren Kjeldsen when he won three straight holes to take the lead, including a 410-yard drive on the par-5 12th hole and another drive over the water to the edge of the green on the 317-yard 13th hole into the wind.

Kjeldsen, crisp as ever with his short irons, ran off four straight birdies to end the match. He took a 1-up lead with a wedge in tight on the par-5 16th, and then his pitching wedge that landed inches from the cup and settled 2 feet away for a birdie on the 17th to end it. Kjeldsen was 6 under on the round.

It was the first time McIlroy had lost his opening match since 2013 when Match Play was single elimination.

“If I had played anyone else, I might have won,” McIlroy said. “Overall, I can’t be too disappointed. But at the same time, when standing on the 14th tee just having won three holes in a row, I thought I had him going into a tough stretch of the golf course. But he put up three birdies in a row, and you can’t do anything about that.”

Spieth didn’t put much of a fight against Hideto Tanihara of Japan, making his debut in Match Play.

With the Texas crowd on his side, Spieth missed a short birdie attempt that would have given him the lead on No. 5.

Two holes later, Tanihara poured in an 18-foot birdie putt and Spieth couldn’t match him. And he never caught up. Spieth didn’t win a hole until the 14th – with a bogey – and Spieth gave him the next hole when his wedge sailed over the 15th green.

Spieth and McIlroy are not done yet, though they need some help.

The best record from the 16 four-man groups advance to the knockout stage on Saturday. Ties are determined by a sudden-death playoff, and head-to-head matchups do not count.

“I obviously have to take care of my end of the bargain tomorrow,” Spieth said, who next faces Yuta Ikeda.

Hideki Matsuyama (No. 4) wasn’t all that happy, either. He missed a 6-foot birdie putt against Jim Furyk and had to settle for a halve. Sergio Garcia, meanwhile, was thrilled to get a halve against Shane Lowry.

The Spaniard never led on the back nine and was 1 down going to the 18th. Lowry hit driver well left into the shaggy grass of a hazard, did well to get it on the green but then three-putted for a bogey.

Justin Thomas (No. 6), fell behind for the first time in his match against Chris Wood on the 13th hole. Thomas won the next two and then closed him out on the 17th. Next up for the PGA Tour’s only three-time winner this season is Kevin Na.

“I didn’t know I was playing him until you just told me,” Thomas said. “I guess that can tell you how I’m viewing everything this week. I’m just going to play golf.”

Only nine of the 32 matches went the distance. Charl Schwartzel had the shortest day, ending his match against Byeong Hun on the 13th hole.

Perez went 2 up early on Day, including a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 4 that swirled into the cup. But on the par-5 sixth, Day was listless and chopped his way to a double bogey when he shook hands and walked off the course.

Day never let on that his mother, Dening, was diagnosed with lung cancer at the start of the year. The prognosis was bleak in Australia – he said doctors told her she only had 12 months to live – so he brought her to Ohio in the last month for a new round of tests.

He said doctors have been more optimistic, and Friday’s surgery will determine a plan for recovery.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Marc Leishman holed a 50-foot eagle putt on the 16th hole to take the lead Sunday, and he stayed there with two tough pars at the end to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational and earn a trip to the Masters.

In a final hour that featured four players having at least a share of the lead, Leishman is the only one who didn’t blink.

His final act was a pitch-and-run from 45 yards away on the closing hole at Bay Hill that ran out to 3 feet. He calmly made the par putt for a 3-under 69 and one-shot victory over Kevin Kisner and Charley Hoffman.

Canadian Adam Hadwin, fresh off his first PGA victory at the Valspar Championship last weekend, finished in sixth place, three shots back of Leishman.

The only thing missing was a handshake from the King. This was the first Arnold Palmer Invitational since the September death of the beloved tournament host.

“You see guys win and he’s waiting there on the back of the green,” Leishman said. “And to not have that is obviously very sad, but to win here is just a dream come true.”

Rory McIlroy had as good a chance as anyone, storming into a share of the lead by hooking a wedge around a tree, over the water and over the green on the 16th, then nearly holing the eagle chip.

He had a 30-foot birdie putt to tie for the lead on the 18th, and after seeing that Leishman had made eagle on the 16th, gave it a good run. The putt went 8 feet by and three-putt for a 69 to finish two shots back.

“These things happen,” McIlroy said. “But I’m pleased with how I went. Ten under for the weekend around here is good scoring, and I can take a lot of positives from it going into next week.”

Kisner and Hoffman also squandered away their chances.

Kisner had a three-shot lead at the turn, but failed to made another birdie the rest of the way. His lead began slipping away when Kisner missed the green on the par-5 12th with a sand wedge, pitched over the other side of the green and took bogey. He closed with a 73.

“I had it right there in the palm of my hand to win, and I didn’t get it done,” Kisner said.

Hoffman rallied from a 39 on the front nine to catch Kisner for the lead, only to three-putt for par on the 16th and then drop another shot from the bunker on the 17th. He made birdie on the 18th that gave him a tie for second.

“Proud of fighting back and making a birdie on the last to finish second, but obviously not what I wanted,” Hoffman said.

The timing was ideal for Leishman, beyond what he described as an honour to win at Bay Hill in the first tournament without Palmer. Instead of a blue blazer, the winner this year received a red cardigan sweater that Palmer favoured.

And instead of seeing Palmer, Leishman at least was able to share it with his family.

His two sons, ages 5 and 3, ran out to the 18th green when he finished, and his wife was off to the side. Audrey Leishman nearly died two years ago when she suffered from toxic shock syndrome, causing Leishman to hastily leave the Masters.

Now he’s going back.

He was No. 62 in the world and had only two weeks left to secure a spot in Augusta National. The victory takes care of that.

“Mr. Palmer was an awesome guy who I was lucky enough to meet a few times,” Leishman said. “To honour him was huge. And it was the first time I won a tournament with my family here. It’s all come together.”

Leishman finished at 11-under 277 and earned a three-year exemption on the PGA Tour.

For everyone else, it was a matter of falling apart.

Kisner was at 12 under and it good position to add to his lead on the par-5 12th when he pulled his wedge, then sent it across the green and had to scramble. That brought Hoffman, Leishman and McIlroy back into the tournament, and Kisner lost the lead when he took three putts from short of the 14th green.

Kisner birdie chip from the 15th green hit the flag. His approach to the par-5 16th from a fairway bunker turned away to the right and rolled out behind a bunker, leaving him no reasonable shot at getting up-and-down. His flop shot came up short and into the bunker, and he had to scramble for par.

Needing birdie to force a playoff on the 18th, he missed the fairway and the green to the left.

Tyrrell Hatton of England shot 71 to tie for fourth with McIlroy.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Charley Hoffman would have been happy to get off the 18th hole at Bay Hill with a par and go into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational within one shot of the lead. With one big putt, Saturday turned out better than he could have imagined.

From trampled grass left of the 18th fairway, a tree slightly in his way, Hoffman chose to punch a 7-iron and have it run down the firm fairway. As long as it didn’t run straight and into the water, he figured he would have a chance for par.

The ball settled 70 feet away on the fringe, and Hoffman made the putt for a birdie, a 1-under 71 and a share of the lead with Kevin Kisner.

It was quite a wild ride, even by Orlando’s standards.

Kisner, who made three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn, wound up three-putting from above the hole on the fringe and shot 68.

They were at 11-under 205, three shots clear of anyone else, both in position to win the first Arnold Palmer Invitational since the September death of the iconic tournament host.

“To be in a position at Arnie’s event is a special spot,” Hoffman said. “It’s right up there with competing in a major championship, there’s no question. Mr. Palmer was the King. There’s a reason why he had the name. … To keep his legacy going and his event would be something special.”

Tyrrell Hatton (67), Marc Leishman (71) and Matt Fitzpatrick (72) were three shots behind.

Rory McIlroy, who started the weekend 11 shots out of the lead, birdied his last two holes for a 65 and climbed back into contention. He was five shots behind. Rickie Fowler, also playing early before the afternoon breeze picked up, also shot a 65 and was six behind.

Kisner for so long looked to have a chance to create a big cushion. He got there with a 7-iron into 10 feet on the par-3 second, an 8-iron to 4 feet right of the flag on the eighth and a lob wedge that spun back near the hole for another short birdie putt on No. 10.

Kisner had birdie chances inside 20 feet on four of the next five holes and couldn’t convert them, and his eagle putt from just over 20 feet on the par-5 16th was short.

Even so, he was in contention, something he hasn’t felt since winning at Sea Island for his first PGA Tour title at the end of 2015.

“These guys are not afraid and they’re going to make a lot of birdies and there’s no protecting leads,” Kisner said. “So I saw I got the lead early and then tried to make as many birdies as I could on the back nine. And had a lot of chances, just didn’t hole the putts. But I hit a lot of nice putts and I’m going to build off that tomorrow.”

Along with the trio who were three shots back, Valspar Championship winner Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover were four shots behind.

Hadwin is seeking to become the first player since Camilo Villegas in 2008 to win his first two PGA TOUR tournaments in back-to-back weeks. Hadwin is currently No. 4 in the FedExCup standings. He has advanced to the FedExCup Playoffs each of his first two seasons on TOUR, finishing 107^th in 2015 and 85^th in 2016.

And perhaps the most daunting name was McIlroy, hopeful of finding his form with the Masters around the corner.

“At least I’ve given myself a decent chance tomorrow,” McIlroy said.

At stake is a red cardigan sweater, a favourite of Palmer’s, which replaces the blue blazer that previously went to the winner.

Hoffman doesn’t have one, and wouldn’t plan to wear it even if he were to win.

“I’m not a cardigan guy. I got zero cardigans and hopefully add one,” he said. “And it wouldn’t be in the closet, it would be on the wall.”

Emiliano Grillo probably won’t have to worry about that. One shot behind going into Saturday, the Argentine opened with a pair of soft bogeys and then fell back with three shots into the water – two of them were golf balls, one of them was his golf club.

Grillo’s first approach to the par-5 sixth came up just short and splashed down. His next shot, from about 10 yards closer, also went into the water. The third attempt was still in the air when he flung his club into the lake. Grillo made a 9, and later put another ball into the water on No. 16. He wound up with a 78 and fell eight shots back.

Hoffman wasn’t even planning to be at Bay Hill. He only needed to finish 41st last week in the Valspar Championship to secure a spot in the Match Play field for next week, and instead missed the cut. Given the tribute to Palmer, it was an easy choice for him to play Bay Hill.

Now, he has a chance to win in consecutive seasons for the first time in his PGA Tour career.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Charley Hoffman wasn’t expecting to be at Bay Hill until he didn’t qualify for a World Golf Championship next week.

The change in plans has worked out nicely so far.

In only his fourth appearance in the Arnold Palmer Invitational over the last decade, Hoffman made seven birdies in slightly warmer conditions Friday for a 6-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo of Argentina.

Grillo made two eagles on his opening nine, holing a 35-yard bunker shot on the par-5 12th and chipping in from just off the green on the par-5 16th. He made birdies on the par 5s on the front nine that carried him to a 68.

Matt Fitzpatrick of England had four birdies on the back nine for a 69 and was two shots behind.

Hoffman was at 10-under 134.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., who’s coming off his first PGA win last weekend at the Valspar Championship, was 4 under after a second straight 70.

Brantford, Ont., native David Hearn (73) was nine shots back.

Sam Saunders, the 29-year-old grandson of Palmer, had three straight bogeys around the turn and never caught up. He wound up with another 74 and missed the cut by one shot in the first Arnold Palmer Invitational since the death of the beloved tournament host last September.

“I don’t know, I’ve got a monkey on my back there where I just always seem to work my way toward that cut number and think about it too much,” Saunders said. “It’s all part of the learning experience, and just got to get better.”

The cut was 3-over 147. Two players who missed the cut at least provided some entertainment.

British Open champion Henrik Stenson hit three balls out of the water, including two on one hole. His blast from the pond short of the 11th green barely made it out and rolled down the slope, only to be caught by a tuft of grass. His next chip rolled back down the slope and into the water, leading to a triple bogey. He also played out of the water on the 16th. Stenson shot 74.

One day after Cody Gribble grabbed the tail of an 8-foot alligator, spooking it back into the lake, Smylie Kaufman was walking along and didn’t see the gator. He jumped back in fright when he spotted it. The gator didn’t move.

Hoffman knows all about missing the cut at Bay Hill. He has left early three times in four previous trips to Bay Hill. The exception was in 2012, when he tied for 59th. He had only one sub-70 round, a 69 on the first day in 2013. He shot 79 the next day and missed the cut. That was four years ago, the last time he played.

Hoffman only had to finish 41st at the Valspar Championship last week to get one of the 64 available spots through the world ranking for the Dell Technologies Match Play next week in Austin, Texas. Instead, he missed the cut and will be the second alternate, unlikely to get in.

So he added Bay Hill, a decision that was even easier because it was the first one without Palmer.

“I played halfway decent the first round last time I was here,” he said. “In the schedule, it hasn’t fallen where I would like in the past. I wasn’t in Match Play, and then obviously honouring Arnie is not a hard thing to come here and play.”

Palmer died in September, and the week has been a tribute to him, from the 13-foot bronze statue near the first and 10th tees to his signature umbrella logo worn by players on their apparel, golf bags and fairway metal covers.

Saunders played with Rory McIlroy, who had another mixed bag and shot 71 to finish at 1-over 145, leaving him 11 shots out of the lead.

Defending champion Jason Day was 1 over for his round until he hit a 340-yard drive on the par-5 16th, hit a short iron to 8 feet and made the eagle putt. He saved par on the final hole with a 5-foot putt for a 71 and was at 3-under 141, still in range with 36 holes to play with hopes of extending a peculiar streak at Bay Hill. Tiger Woods won back to back and then Matt Every won back to back over the last four years.

Every shot a 70 to make the cut, ending a streak of 18 consecutive PGA Tour starts where he failed to make the cut.

Grillo has been spending most of his time working on his short game, noticing a month ago that his putter moved back and through like a figure 8. He didn’t need a putter for his two eagles, though he saved par with a 10-foot putt on the 18th as he made the turn.

He was tied for the lead until missing an 8-foot par putt on No. 8, though he still goes into the weekend playing in the final group.

“Just play from the fairway. That’s going to be key,” Grillo said. “Somehow, I managed to shoot a very good round considering how bad I hit it off the tee today.”

ORLANDO, Fla. – Emiliano Grillo of Argentina recovered from a rough start in cold weather by running off seven birdies for a 5-under 67, giving him an early three-shot lead in the first Arnold Palmer Invitational without the beloved tournament host.

Multi-colored umbrellas, Palmer’s logo, were everywhere at Bay Hill on Thursday. Parkas would have been more appropriate on this day. It was 39 degrees when the first round began, the coldest start to any PGA Tour event this year – in Florida, no less.

Grillo three-putted from 25 feet on No. 3 and took a bogey from 120 yards out in the fairway on the par-5 fourth. It never got any worse.

The Argentine, often weighed down by his putting, answered with consecutive birdies. He rolled in a 50-foot birdie putt on No. 9, a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, and ended with a par to beat his half of draw by three shots.

“If I had my hands out of my pockets for a minute or two, I would be freezing,” Grillo said. “But I was able to keep it in the fairway mostly all day and I was able to make a few good putts on 9 and 17, and that kept me going.”

Defending champion Jason Day, Francesco Molinari, Stewart Cink and Kevin Kisner were at 70. Only five other players broke par from the morning tee times, though the temperatures warmed in the afternoon on a perfectly manicured course – particularly the greens – at Bay Hill.

The Canadian pair of Adam Hadwin (Abbotsford, B.C.) and David Hearn (Brantford, Ont.) were also at 70 (-2), sharing a 12-way tie of eighth. Hadwin is coming off a whirlwind week after collecting his first win on Tour – he had one of the day’s best rounds going but ran into trouble on the par-4 18th with a double-bogey.

Sam Saunders, Palmer’s grandson, played in the afternoon. Although he does not have full PGA Tour status (he received an exemption) and has never won on tour, he was placed in a marquee group with Rory McIlroy and Brandt Snedeker in a week of celebration for Palmer, who died Sept. 25.

Saunders received an ovation when he walked onto the first tee and gave a quick thumbs-up, his grandfather’s trademark. He was announced as representing Bay Hill and received cheers that rivaled what Tiger Woods once heard when he was ruling at Bay Hill.

From there, it felt like the Arnold Palmer Invitational of old, with a few noticeable differences.

Most players had the umbrella somewhere visible: the collar of a shirt, the hat, the bag or the covers on their drivers and fairway metals. The 13-foot bronze statue of Palmer was positioned behind the first tee and on the way to the 10th tee. No one could miss that.

And his cart was stationed to the right of the 16th tee, pointed the opposite direction across the water toward the 18th green. That’s where Palmer loved to watch golf.

“I think everyone is a little bit more emotional this year because, obviously, the passing of Mr. Palmer,” Day said. “We’re so used to seeing him around on the driving range, in the clubhouse, interacting with players, interacting with fans. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see that anymore.”

The biggest distraction was the chill in the air, even as the sun rose over the course.

Grillo had 175 yards left for his second shot on the opening hole. He hit a 5-iron and it barely made it into the front bunker. Charl Schwartzel estimated he was hitting his driver some 30 yards shorter than usual.

Day still hit 2-iron off the tee into Nos. 10 and 11, as he usually does. But instead of a 9-iron or wedge for his second, he was hitting 5-iron and 4-iron.

“Just a big, big difference between the morning and this afternoon,” he said.

Molinari reached 4 under through 11 holes, but played the final seven holes in 2 over, failing to birdie either of the par 5s.

John Daly, playing on a sponsor exemption, was briefly on the leaderboard until a double bogey on the 18th hole (he started on No. 10). That was still five shots better than when he played the hole in 2006 and made an 11.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Brandt Snedeker, 2013 RBC Canadian Open champion, was all smiles as he recalled the opportunity he had to spend time with Arnold Palmer. It was 2009, Snedeker was a struggling tour professional, and Palmer met with Snedeker for two hours in his office, had lunch with him, and then played nine holes.

“In typical Arnold fashion he hit 5-wood on No.17 and took $20 of me,” said Snedeker with a smile, flanked by Mastercard chief marketing officer Raja Rajamannar and Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation chief executive officer Kevin Bingham at Bay Hill in Orlando. “It was unbelievable for him to open up to a struggling tour pro like me. Every year I came here and talked to Arnold about life, and that’s something I’m going to miss dearly.”

Although Snedeker told GolfCanada.ca that if he was to win this week at the Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Invitational presented by Mastercard it would be his most ‘memorable’ victory – despite winning eight times on the PGA Tour including $10 million in the 2012 FedExCup – he’s also looking forward to this year’s RBC Canadian Open, back at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont.

“I can’t wait,” said Snedeker, a Team RBC member. “I love Glen Abbey. I think it’s a great golf course. For whatever reason it just suits my eye and I play really well there.”

It was quite a run for Snedeker in 2013 on his way to victory north of the border, as he also won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and spent the whole year in the top-10 of the Official World Rankings.

He thinks part of his success has to do with his Canadian-born caddy, Scott Vail, from Pickering, Ont.

“Anytime I get back to Toronto I’m kind of on a home base, because (Scott) is from there. It’s as close as I can get to feeling Canadian,” said Snedeker. “The crowds are great that week too. It’s a fun week.”

Snedeker was in the final pairing a year ago at Glen Abbey with Canadian amateur Jared du Doit. Although Snedeker fell back into a tie for fifth (and du Toit into a tie for ninth), he said it was a cool experience being paired with the young amateur.

Jared du Toit & Brandt Snedeker (Bernard Brault/ Golf Canada)

“I sat in the booth on Saturday and I was with the CBS guys and I remember watching Jared make eagle on 18 and I saw the crowd go crazy,” recalls Snedeker. “I was high-fiving Jim Nantz in the booth, and seeing this young Canadian amateur do what he was doing was so much fun.”

“My job on Sunday was to make sure he had a great time,” continued Snedeker. “He played really good. He had some chances but just couldn’t get it going. Under those circumstances it was phenomenal, and it was just really fun to be with him.”

And while Snedeker will of course be competing at the RBC Canadian Open in July, don’t be surprised if Brooke Henderson makes an appearance that week as well, according to President of Mastercard Canada Brian Lang.

Lang, who spent some time overseas working for the credit card giant in both Dubai and the Czech Republic, was eager to return to Canada (he was born in Toronto). He’s been Mastercard Canada’s president for nearly two years exactly, and was over-the-moon when the Mastercard locked in Henderson as their newest ambassador.

“We had eight ambassadors on both the (Champions) Tour and the PGA Tour now, and they were all males. This past year we brought on Annika Sorenstam (who won the 2001 CP Canadian Women’s Open) but decided we needed another. Brooke Henderson was an easy target for us,” said Lang. “Henderson is effervescent, she has a wonderful personality. She’s figured things out very quickly as a young woman. We’re super happy that we’ve signed her up and now, frankly, we’re going to try to find a neat way to bring that all together at the Canadian Open.”

Adam Hadwin’s breakout season comes as no surprise to those who have followed the Canadian’s journey from golf obscurity to PGA Tour tournament champion. He had the talent, he just needed the momentum.

Hadwin continued his remarkable season Sunday, capturing his first Tour title at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla. That followed a runner-up finish at the CareerBuilder Challenge in January, where he became the eighth player in Tour history to shoot a round of 59.

Hadwin has moved up to fourth in the FedEx Cup rankings and 51st in the world rankings, a rapid turnaround for a golfer who missed 12 cuts in his first PGA season. But ever since 2009, when he was making his pro start on the developmental Vancouver Golf Tour, Hadwin has been serving notice that he had the talent to make it on golf’s biggest stage.

“I learned pretty quickly he was a pretty confident guy. There was an air about him. I played with him in his second event, and he just whooped my (butt),” said Fraser Mulholland, who runs the Vancouver Golf Tour. “I hadn’t played with a guy who had hit it that far and that solid. I got off the course and said, ‘Wow, that looked different. That looked easy.’

“He was showing me then what a PGA Tour-calibre player was all about.”

Hadwin won four times on the VGT before moving on to the Canadian Tour (now called the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada) and Web.com Tour, where he was the overall money winner in 2014 with US$529,792 in earnings. He’s currently in his third season on the PGA Tour.

Nick Taylor, a PGA Tour tournament winner in 2014 who grew up playing junior golf with Hadwin in Abbotsford, B.C., said he knew success was going to happen for Hadwin once he got comfortable with his game.

“If you talk to anybody, anyone who has caddied for him or coached him, he’s got all the talent in the world, and then he was just able to piece it all together,” said Taylor, who was there to greet his friend after the 72nd hole on Sunday.

“Everyone has their comfort zone and this year it looks like he’s dialed it in. Once he got dialed in, and once he got out of his own way, he was going to succeed, there was no doubting that.”

Brad Fritsch, a PGA Tour regular from Ottawa, spent a lot of time with Hadwin on the Web.com Tour as they tried to get to the next level.

“I didn’t know anything about him, but he played on the Canadian Tour and started playing very well. That’s when I kind of figured he was pretty legit,” Fritsch said. “He’s very sure of his ability.

“He feeds a lot on momentum, and when his ‘good’ gets going, it gets really silly how good he can be.”

Hadwin, who was born in Moose Jaw, Sas., is the second Canadian to win on the PGA Tour this season after Hamilton’s Mackenzie Hughes captured the RSM Classic in November. The two will join former champion Mike Weir at the Masters this year, and it will be the first time three Canadians are in the field at the storied major tournament.

Jeff Monday, president of PGA Tour Canada where Hadwin played from 2010-11 and won two tournaments, thought Sunday’s win was a step the 29-year-old was going to take in his career eventually.

“The way he’s handled himself at each level is very impressive,” Monday said. “To be able to overcome some disappointments and keep working, keep going through the process, is impressive. For some people it happens quick, and for some people, they just keep building on their momentum.

“It’s tremendous to see. It’s incredible to me because the level of talent coming out of Canada is only going to be getting stronger.”

Back where it all began in British Columbia, Mulholland thinks more wins are in store for Hadwin.

“He’s got a very promising career ahead of him,” he said. “His golf swing is beautiful, and most importantly he knows how to putt. Now that he’s got his first win, I’m not going to say he’s going to win five times this year, but he could win five or 10 times in his career. Maybe more.”

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Canada’s Adam Hadwin is skipping his first World Golf Championship and asking for a refund for his honeymoon to Tahiti.

He couldn’t be happier.

Seven weeks after he shot a 59, and two weeks before his wedding, Hadwin added another eventful chapter to his amazing year.

He threw away a two-shot lead with three holes to play by hitting a tee shot into the water, kept his wits and then closed with two strong pars for an even-par 71 to win the Valspar Championship by one shot over Patrick Cantlay for his first PGA Tour title Sunday.

✅ Win on @PGATOURCanada
✅ Win on @WebDotComTour
✅ Win on @PGATOUR

Adam Hadwin wins the @ValsparChamp for his first victory on TOUR. pic.twitter.com/9bVybd130S

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 12, 2017

“You’re never quite sure when you’re going to get the job done,” Hadwin said. “I just went there today and stuck to what I do best, just hit some quality golf shots and really made the game super easy outside of hole No. 16. I feel a little fortunate after that hole to be sitting here, but I’ll certainly take it, and I can’t wait for everything that comes with this win.”

The victory moves him to No. 51 in the world and makes him eligible for the Dell Match Play – except that he’s getting married that week.

It also sends the 29-year-old Abbotsford, B.C., product to the Masters, meaning he will have to postpone that honeymoon to French Polynesia. Instead, he’ll be preparing for Augusta National, the place he called the “greenest place on earth.”

Even with a four-shot lead going into the final round, all he wanted was a chance over the final few holes.

The trick Sunday was reminding himself he was right where he wanted to be.

Hadwin twice holed big birdie putts on the back nine at Innisbrook as Cantlay was in close for birdies of his own, a 25-footer on the par-5 11th and then a 55-footer on the par-3 13th to keep a two-shot lead.

Adam Hadwin …

From another time zone. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/dqy26lsrxJ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 12, 2017

But it all changed on the 16th, the start of a tough three-hole finish at the Copperhead Course. His 3-wood peeled off to the right and never had a chance, and Hadwin walked off the hole with a double bogey and a tie for the lead

From the 18th fairway, Cantlay blinked first.

The former No. 1 amateur in the world, playing for only the second time after missing two years with a back injury, leaked his approach into a bunker. Hadwin’s approach went just over the back against the collar of the fringe, leaving him a belly wedge down the grain that came off perfectly and settled 2 feet below the cup.

Cantlay’s bunker shot was well short, and he missed the 15-foot par putt to force a playoff.

He was 1 of 6 in sand saves for the week.

The consolation prize for Cantlay was a runner-up finish that paid $680,400, more than enough for him to secure full status for the rest of the year.

“It doesn’t really feel like much consolation at the moment,” Cantlay said. “I didn’t finish the deal.”

Even in loss, it was a bright return for the UCLA star. Cantlay wondered if his back would ever allow him to regain his form. While still in college, he shot 60 at the Travelers Championship in 2011, was low amateur in the U.S. Open and didn’t finish out of the top 25 in his four PGA Tour starts that summer.

A stress fracture in his back kept him out of golf for two years. Then, he endured a far greater burden a year ago February when his best friend and caddie, Chris Roth, was struck and killed by a car as they were walking to a restaurant for dinner in California.

He looked like he was never gone. Trailing by four shots with 10 holes to play, he ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch that put enormous pressure on Hadwin.

“I was just trying to catch him,” Cantlay said. “And I caught him, and gave it to him in the end.”

Hadwin is the third Canadian to qualify for the Masters, joining RSM Classic winner Mackenzie Hughes and 2003 champion Mike Weir. He finished at 14-under 270.

His success earned praise from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Congratulations to Abbotsford’s @ahadwingolf on winning the PGA’s #ValsparChampionship today, and all the best on your upcoming wedding!

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 12, 2017

Jim Herman (68) and PGA Tour rookie Dominic Bozzelli (67) tied for third, two strokes behind Hadwin.

Tony Finau closed with a 64 to finish alone in fifth, though that likely will narrowly keep him out of the Dell Match Play in two weeks. Finau only moves to No. 70 in the world, and as many as five players are likely to withdraw.

Jason Dufner birdied his last two holes for a 67 to tie for 11th and qualify for Match Play.

David Hearn (70) of Brantford, Ont., tied for 18th at 4 under, Graham DeLaet (67) of Weyburn, Sask., finished 22nd at 3 under and Nick Taylor (74) of Abbotsford was 62nd at 5 over.

Hadwin’s fiancee, Jessica Kippenberger, made the wedding date for March 24 because that’s when the venue was available. Hadwin checked the schedule and figured it worked out beautifully.

“I looked at it as, ‘Hey, we picked the week of Puerto Rico,’ not we picked it the week of the WGC,” he said with a laugh.

The honeymoon deposit was only for the hotel. He booked refundable airline tickets with the Masters in mind.