ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The long ball helped Bryson DeChambeau outlast Lee Westwood on Sunday in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, only the key shots were as much with his putter as his driver.
DeChambeau holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the front nine and a 50-foot par putt early on the back nine. He closed it out with a nervy 5-foot par putt for a 1-under 71 and a one-shot victory over the 47-year-old Westwood.
It matched the low score of the day, one of only three rounds under par in the toughest final round at Bay Hill in 41 years.
DeChambeau and Westwood were never separated by more than one shot over the final 15 holes, a fascinating duel of generations that came down to the last shot.
DeChambeau took a one-shot lead to the par-4 18th and hit his most important drive of the day — in the fairway. Westwood’s tee shot settled in a divot, and he did well to get it on the green and two-putt from 65 feet. DeChambeau’s birdie putt slid by some 5 feet and he shook his arms in celebration when the par putt dropped.
Westwood closed with a 73, not a bad score considering the average of 75.49 was the highest for a final round since 1980.
Corey Conners was third at 8 under after a 74.
DeChambeau said he received a text Sunday morning from Tiger Woods, who is recovering from serious leg injuries from his car crash in Los Angeles. He said Woods, an eight-time Bay Hill winner, told him to “keep fighting.” He also considered the words from Arnold Palmer to “play boldly.”
DeChambeau rose to No. 6 in the world with his ninth PGA Tour victory, and he became the first player this season with multiple victories, to go along with his U.S. Open title in September. It matched the longest it took for a multiple winner on the PGA Tour since 1969. Nick Price won his second title in the 21st week of the season in 1994.
LPGA TOUR
OCALA, Fla. (AP) — Austin Ernst won the Drive On Championship for her third LPGA Tour title, pulling away to beat fellow former NCAA champion Jennifer Kupcho by five strokes at Golden Ocala.
Tied for the lead with Kupcho after each of the first two rounds and a stroke ahead entering the day, Ernst closed with a 2-under 70 to finish the wire-to-wire victory at 15-under 273.
Kupcho, coming off a closing eagle Saturday, had a double bogey and three bogeys in a 74.
Following sisters Jessica and Nelly Korda in the first two events of the year, Ernst gave the United States three straight victories to open a season for the first time since 2007.
The 29-year-old former LSU star from South Carolina also won the 2014 Portland Classic and the 2020 NW Arkansas Championship. She won the NCAA title in 2011.
Jenny Coleman made it a 1-2-3 U.S. finish, closing with a 71 to get to 8 under.
OTHER TOURS
Andrew Martin shot a 10-under 61 — believed to be the lowest final round in the history of the PGA Tour of Australasia — for a two-stroke victory in the TPS Sydney in Pagewood, Australia. The Australian had four eagles in the round at Bonnie Doon Golf Club. Eight strokes behind entering the round, he finished at 18 under. … Wales’ Rhys Enoch won the Sunshine Tour’s Kit Kat Group Pro-Am by a stroke at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington, closing with a 5-under 67. He finished at 12 under for his second tour victory.
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