ORLANDO, Fla. — All that stood between Martin Laird and victory at Bay Hill were two putts from just inside 90 feet on the 18th hole, which didn’t seem all that long considering what he already had been through Sunday.
First came a stunning collapse that took him from a three-shot lead to a three-shot deficit in a span of seven holes. The Colorado State graduate was three shots behind when he walked off the 14th green, two shots ahead as he headed to the 17th tee.
Laird rolled his approach putt on the 72nd hole to 3 1/2 feet, then jabbed his fist when he rolled in the par putt to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“That was a tough fight out there,” Laird said. “It was a battle, but you know, it makes it even sweeter at the end when I got this trophy.”
In the toughest final round on the PGA Tour this year, Laird was strong at the end with two birdies and two clutch pars to close with a 3-over-par 75, the highest final round by a winner in the 33-year history at Bay Hill.
That two-putt par on the 18th was just enough for a one-shot victory over hard-luck Steve Marino, who lost three shots on two plugged lies in bunkers over the last four holes. Marino (72) followed a double bogey on the par-3 17th with an all-or-nothing shot over the water at the flag to 8 feet on the last hole to set up a birdie.
Laird, a 28-year-old from Scotland who came to America to play college golf and never left, became the first European to win at Bay Hill.
When he pulled his approach from a fairway bunker into the water on No. 11 and made double bogey, he already was 5-over for the round. But while he lost the lead, he never lost hope.
“I never thought about not winning,” Laird said. “When I saw I was three down, I didn’t have a choice. I had to start playing some good golf. I had to make birdies. Steve was playing too good. That was really the focus. It was trying to get this trophy.”
