ORLANDO, Fla. — Ernie Els made two clutch par putts, escaped trouble from a buried lie in the bunker and wound up wearing a blue blazer Monday for winning the rain-delayed Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Suddenly, it’s easy to picture him in a different color jacket two weeks from now.
Els overcame a few nervous moments with four solid pars to wrap up a 1-under-par 71 and win by two shots at Bay Hill, giving him back-to-back victories for the first time in seven years and setting himself up as a favorite at Augusta National.
“I’d like to put this jacket in some dye,” Els said at the trophy presentation. “Some green dye.”
Coming off a four-shot victory in the World Golf Championship at Doral two weeks ago, Els had to work harder than he should have for his 18th career victory on the PGA Tour.
He had a five-shot lead Sunday with six holes left until hitting into the water on No. 13 for a double bogey and hitting into the sand on the next hole for a bogey. Then came the thunderstorms, halting the final round until Monday.
With his lead down to one shot over Kevin Na, Els’ 4-iron came up short of the 17th green and plugged into the face of the bunker. Els blasted out to within 6 feet and made a par.
“The whole thing changed from being very comfortable to being just as tense as I’ve been for a long time,” Els said.
He finished at 11-under 277 and earned $1.08 million, giving him more than $3 million for the year and putting him atop the PGA Tour money list.
