Keegan Bradley Breaks Bay Hill Front Nine Scoring Record During Final Round Of Arnold Palmer Invitational

Keegan Bradley shot the lowest front nine score in the history of Bay Hill during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to move back into contention for the title.

The US Ryder Cup captain began the week in fine form with a first-round 69 in the PGA Tour signature event to leave him within two of the lead. However, he had fallen away by the end of Saturday’s action with rounds of 72 and 76, leaving him on one-over for the tournament and seemingly out of contention facing an 11-shot deficit to overnight leader Collin Morikawa.

If Bradley was to have any chance of his eighth PGA Tour win at Bay Hill this week he was going to need something very special indeed, and he produced it in the first nine holes of his final round.

Bradley began steadily with successive pars on his opening two holes, but after his first birdie of the day on the par-4 third, something clicked with the American. He moved to two-under for the day on the next hole, a par-5, completing his birdie with an 11ft 3in putt to move to one-under for the tournament.

Another par followed on the fifth before Bradley produced a moment of brilliance on the sixth, holing out for an eagle from 73 yards, with the smile on his face afterwards telling its own story about how much he was enjoying the day.

He wasn’t finished there though - far from it. He followed that up with his third birdie of the day on the par-3 seventh after nearly making an ace before leaving his ball within three feet of the hole, and he had his fourth birdie of the day at the eighth.

Bradley could even afford a wayward tee shot on the ninth, with his 365-yard drive finishing left of the fairway on a cart path before leaving his second just over four feet from the hole. He again finished for birdie to make the turn with a seven-under 29, moving him just four behind Morikawa, who had yet to start his final round, on six under.

That had never been achieved before, and, even more remarkably, it came during a difficult week at Bay Hill, where low scoring has been a rarity with some big names not even reaching the weekend after failing to get to grips with the challenge.

Bradley’s momentum then continued on the 10^th with yet another birdie to leave him on seven-under and in a tie for fourth with eight to play, before eventually heading back to the clubhouse with a 64 before Russell Henley claimed victory.