Adam Scott was the talk of the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitation early on after carding a 67 in the first round. Many thought he would continue his surge and earn his third straight PGA Tour victory, but Jason Day had other plans when he finished at six-under on the first day just hours after Scott.
Day never trailed in the event again. He finished 17-under par with scores of 66, 65, 70 and 70 to earn his first victory of the 2015-2016 PGA Tour season. His consistent and dominant play at Bay Hill got him the $1.1-million grand prize for the event.
It was Day's fifth event this year and his best finish by far. He tied for 10th in his first tournament of the season back in January at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, but was then cut from the Farmers Insurance Open, tied for 11th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro AM and tied for 23rd at the WGC-Cadillac Championship.
On Sunday, he had to earn his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Day staved off late surges from Kevin Chappell and Troy Merritt after the two faltered on the 72nd hole of the tournament. After recording birdies on his first five holes of the back-nine, Merritt double-bogeyed the 18th and fell three strokes behind Day. As for Chappell, he was two-under on the back-nine and needed a par on the 18th to force a playoff, but he bogeyed after a poor par putt attempt.
Then it was up to Day, who needed to get up-and-down to secure the victory after his second shot landed in the left green side bunker. He hit a three-foot putt to remain at 17-under after Chappell fell to 16-under with his bogey.
Check out the highlights below:
It was Day's eighth career PGA Tour victory and it couldn't have come at a better time with the Masters just two and a half weeks away. He'll look to rebound after finishing tied for 28th at the season's first major event last year thanks to a score of 75 in the final round. Jordan Spieth took home his first major victory thanks to a wire-to-wire finish of his own.
Here are some other notable finishes from the Arnold Palmer Invitational:
Henrik Stenson (-14) tied for third
Zach Johnson (-12) finished in fifth
Hideki Matsuyama (-11) tied for sixth
Justin Rose (-10) tied for ninth
Adam Scott (-12) tied for 12th
Rory McIlroy (-6) tied for 27th
Day used advice from Tiger Woods, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational eight times, to capture his first career victory at the PGA Tour event.
