Laird stages great recovery at Bay Hill

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational | Final Round | 28 Mar 2011

Martin Laird has staged a remarkable late recovery to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational at the Bay Hill club and Lodge near Orlando. Laird would win by one shot over the luckless Steve Marino with Australian Marc Leishman, David Toms and England’s Justin Rose.

It completed a great few hours for Scottish golf with Paul Lawrie having won in Spain a little earlier.
Laird, looking for his second victory on the PGA Tour, began the day with a two shot advantage but in the demanding conditions of day four and the test that Bay Hill presents Laird struggled through his early nine holes. When he added to his woes with a double bogey at the 11th after pulling his second into the water he had slipped to five over for the day and had fallen three behind Marino.

Then came the recovery. A birdie at the par five 12th was admittedly followed by a bogey at the par 3 14th after missing the green right but Laird would hit a low runner from the left rough to the front of the green at the 15th and holed a 20 footer for birdie. He then holed a great birdie putt at the 16th and when Marino, who was playing in the group ahead, double bogeyed the 17th after plugging in the front bunker Laird had the outright lead.

Marino hit a great approach to the final hole to 8 feet and when he converted he had set a target. Laird could not make a mistake at the last and he would not. His tee shot did run into the rough at the end of the fairway and could not attack the flag but he did not need to. He was faced with a long two putt but he was able to do just that and the title was his.

“That was a hell of a day,” said Laird after his win. “That was a tough fight out there. You know, the golf course is playing very, very difficult. To be honest I didn’t feel like I had my swing really all day. Pretty much hit it everywhere until about the last four holes.

“You know, the two clubs that have been good for me all week, my driver and my putter. They have held me in all week and they really came through strong today. I couldn’t be any happier.”
Marino was disappointed but philosophical. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m pretty disappointed right now. I felt like I just played so well all day, and just a couple bad breaks, and one bad putt was all it took to kind of take me out of it.

“But I was real proud of the way I hung in there and hit two great shots into 18 and was able to make that putt to even have a chance. That was — I mean, you know, if there’s any positive to draw on this, that definitely is a positive for sure.

Given the volatility of the scoring and the dangers of the final few holes, there were many with chances late in the tournament. One of those was the Victorian Marc Leishman who continues to impress in his third season on the PGA Tour.

Leishman moved within one when he hit a brilliant second to 8 feet at the par five 16th then converted for eagle and when he made a great par save at the 17th his chances were still alive. He would bogey the last after a poor drive however but it was yet another good finish for the Rookie of the Year in 2009. Leishman adds US$312,000 to his bank balance.

Justin Rose produced the best round of the day amongst the leading contenders his round of 68 further confirming his readiness for Augusta National where he has a good record in his five starts in the event. Rose has yet to miss a cut at the Masters and it would not surprise if he contended strongly this year.

Aaron Baddeley and Rod Pampling were the next best finishing in 12th position with previous winner, Pampling taking good advantage of his former winner status which provided a start in this event.