Expert Picks: PGA Championship

Grace breaks 63 barrier at The Open

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ORLANDO, Fla. — The long ball helped Bryson DeChambeau outlast Lee Westwood on Sunday to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, only the key shots were as much with his putter as his driver. RELATED: Leaderboard | Winner’s Bag: Bryson DeChambeau 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. For the second straight day, DeChambeau revved up thousands of fans on the par-5 sixth hole by smashing driver over the lake and leaving himself 88 yards away on the 565-yard sixth hole. Westwood was 168 yards behind him, and raised both arms to jokingly mimic DeChambeau’s reaction from the day before. They both made birdie. DeChambeau appeared to be in trouble on the 11th when he narrowly missed going in the water off the tee, caught a plugged lie in the front bunker and gouged it out to 50 feet. He made that for par to stay ahead by one. Westwood tied him with a 30-foot birdie putt on the par-5 12th, only to give it back with a three-putt on the 14th. The tournament turned on the par-5 16th, where it was Westwood who had the advantage. DeChambeau’s drive went up against the lip of a bunker and he had to lay up short of the water. Westwood had 158 yards and hit a poor short iron that came up short of the green. He chipped nicely, except that it rolled out 6 feet by the hole on the lightning-quick greens and he missed the birdie for a chance to tie. DeChambeau was one ahead going to the 18th when he 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 stayed in the mix until the very end. The Canadian holed a 15-foot eagle putt on the 16th to get within one shot, only to find a bunker on the par-3 17th and miss a 6-foot par putt. With a bogey on the final hole, he shot 74 to finish alone in third. Jordan Spieth was part of a four-man race on the front nine and briefly tied for the lead with a birdie on the par-5 sixth. That turned out to be his last birdie of the day. He took bogey on three of his last four holes for a 75, dropping him into a three-way tie for fourth with Andrew Putnam (71) and Ricky Werenski (73). For Spieth, it was his third top-five finish in his last four events. 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.” He needed all of that with the fight Westwood gave him, and the test Bay Hill provided. “It’s been quite a battle this whole entire time,” DeChambeau said. DeChambeau rose to No. 1 in the FedExCup rankings 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. Rory McIlroy, who started four shots out of the lead, was never in the mix. He came undone on the par-5 sixth, where he hit two tee shots into the water and then hit the fairway, green and made the putt to salvage double bogey. He shot 76.

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Editor’s note: Stewart Cink will receive the Payne Stewart Award presented by Southern Company next week during the TOUR Championship. One of his best friends on the PGA TOUR, Ben Crane, pays tribute to this year’s recipient. I met Stewart in 2002 when I was a rookie on the PGA TOUR. I don’t know exactly how we met, whether we were hitting balls next to each other on the range one day or saw each other at the TOUR Bible study or what. But as I got to know him, I was impressed by how he was guided by his faith and committed to his family. He immediately became the person that I wanted to emulate in the way I played golf, the way I loved on other people and the way I love my family.    He’s always been there for me. I remember at THE PLAYERS Championship the following spring, I shot 79 in the first round. I was basically a mess. I was down on myself. I was wrestling with fear. I wasn’t feeling good about my game at all. So I decided to call Stewart. As we talked, he didn’t make me feel like there was something wrong with me.  He just affirmed that this is very natural and he told me to remember that my identity is not golf, right — it’s in who God says I am. He said that God made me and loves me and when you’re experiencing fear, you’re thinking about yourself. Stewart told me he’d had similar feelings. And it was like wow, you, too?  You’re a legend out here, you’ve had so many wins and such a great career. I’m like, wow, even him. So, his words of encouragement really lifted me up. I went out there in the second round and shot 68, and even though I missed the cut, I felt so much more positive. He walked me through it successfully and honorably, and as luck would have it, we got paired together the next week in the final round of the BellSouth Classic. I actually ended up winning that week, and I attribute a lot of that to Stewart’s words of encouragement. I really do. Another thing about Stewart is that he’s really funny. He’s witty and self-deprecating in a welcome-you-in kind of way. Stewart brings out the silly side in us and he can make the smallest little Curb-Your-Enthusiasm thing, like, so funny. I don’t know anyone on TOUR who doesn’t love Stewart — and trust him, too. That’s why he’s been elected to the TOUR’s Policy Board so many times. He just seems to have time for everybody. And if you ever want to have a good conversation with him, ask Stewart about barbecue. He LOVES that. I just got a Big Green Egg, so when I grilling something, I always text Stewart and his coach Mike Lipnick for pointers. They’re so good, they’ve won real barbecue competitions. I mean, they’re the masters. You know, it’s interesting. Stewart loves the game, but his No. 1 goal in life is not to be a better golfer. That can easily get away from us out here. We can get so focused on it and 9 out of 10 people in our lives refer to us in terms of golf, too.  You can lose yourself in that. But Stewart has done a great job of seeking his identity in the Lord and it shows.  And then there’s his family; his wife Lisa, who is a really spectacular person, and their two sons. The way he talks about them and always makes time for them is something special. The boys are grown now, but he used to go home so he could watch the boys play hockey. My wife Heather and I are always kind of looking to them to see how they’re managing this life — as players, we’re on the road 20 or 30 weeks a year, and our family is probably only out five, six times. It’s a challenge and the two of them have made the best of it. Stewart just loves Lisa so much, too. Obviously, that was shown pretty publicly when she was diagnosed with cancer. He’s like, golf, this means very little to me. Heather and I have had some very tender moments with them as couples post-diagnosis, talking about the meaning of life. It’s just sweet to watch them draw closer to the Lord, draw close to each other and he’ll tell you his marriage is stronger than ever because of it. He was the first person I asked who wasn’t a pastor to teach at our Bible study group. It’s fun to hear players and how they’re walking out their faith on TOUR. He spoke and it was so great. We were immediately like, would you speak again? He just talks about his own struggles and his own fears and it’s just honest. It’s very easy to present a false sense of self but it takes a man to be really honest.  Stewart does a great job of this in my opinion, and it just welcomes people in. He is a really special person and I can’t think of anyone better to receive the Payne Stewart Award.

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