When the best score of the round was one-under 71, Christiaan Bezuidenhout was entitled to feel happy with his final round of one-over 73 on Sunday in the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida.
He made a double-bogey on the last when he hit his approach into the water, but he had it to two-under through 16 when he made a nine-footer for birdie on the final par-five of the course, but a wayward tee-shot on 17 – it bounced off the roof of the grandstand next to the green – saw him give that shot back there, and the double on 18 meant he ended the tournament on five-under alone in second place.
Bryson DeChambeau won with his monster driving, finishing one shot clear on 11-under from Lee Westwood. The halfway leader Corey Conners of Canada finished in third on eight-under.
Branden Grace closed with a four-over 76 in the tough windy conditions for a share of 26th at level-par for the tournament, while Erik van Rooyen’s 75 saw him at five-over and in a share of 57th.
On the LPGA Tour, Ashleigh Buhai came undone on the homeward nine. She started the final round of the PPGA Drive On championship in Ocala, Florida on four-under and seemingly on course for a second consecutive top-10 finish.
She turned in level-par after a birdie and a bogey on the opening nine, and picked up another shot on the 10th as things were looking good for her. But a double-bogey on the par-three 11th, followed by bogeys on 12, 13, 15 and 17 put paid to her chances as she signed for a five-over 77 and finished on one-over for the tournament in a share of 34th.
The tournament was won by Austin Ernst of the United States on 15-under by five shots from fellow-American Jennifer Kupcho.
