Final Takeaways from the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Happy St. Patrick's Day Indeed!)

Well everybody, first of all if you've been reading throughout the weekend I want to thank each and every one of you. My goal is to continue these types of blogs for as many tournaments as I can in hopes of providing insight into the performance of each round and any external reactions/comments that are made to boot (looking at you and your take on alcohol sales there Rors). In an ironic twist, not only did Rory suggest how to help limit patron commentary on the course by suggesting a cap on alcohol on the course, but he also backed it up with a win and a toast to the late great King himself. There are a number of ways we can go with this, as we can call it ironic or we can call it lucky. Had Rory not played lights out in the final round and not come up with the victory, he was sure to get his fair share of criticism similar to Justin Thomas during the WGC in Mexico. Had JT pulled out a win that weekend, the comments would have sure subsided and I believe he played well enough to put that controversy to rest losing in a playoff to Phil the Thrill Mickelson. Watching golf on TV and hearing GET IN THE HOLE on Tigers tee shot on a par 5 will always be tired, but people are just going to continue doing it and unless it's an immediate ejection, it won't stop. Anyways, on to the takeaways on this St. Patrick's Day weekend recap of the Arnold Palmer Invitational:

Leishman had par 5 problems:
I mentioned earlier in the weekend that Marc Leishman absolutely LOVES this tournament, especially having seen him dominate first hand in 2017 at Bay Hill. Unfortunately for him, he carded two 6's on par 5's which spelled disaster for him after perfect drives off the tee. Finding the sand on a par 5 won't necessarily kill your chances of scoring, but bogeying these holes with a stacked and moving leader board will all but push you further down. He still finished with a top 10 for the weekend after scoring a 67 on Sunday but you can imagine the type of momentum he'd generate if he didn't find the bunker on the long holes.

Stenson is a ridiculous ball-striker:

I never quite realized how consistent and meticulous a ball-striker Hank was when watching him, but the 54-hole leader seemed to approach every single shot perfectly and never found himself doing anything fancy. Iron off the tee was a guaranteed center-cut shot down the fairway and I only wish Tiger took a play out of his book on the 16th hole...

Which brings me to Tiger's 16th:

Aw damn.

Speed it up, Bryson:
I couldn't tell which was more agonizing to watch: the last minute of the Syracuse-Michigan St. game or waiting for Bryson to hit a two foot putt where he constantly felt the need to mark his ball and treat it like a 15 foot putt for birdie. Although they were warned for slow play, Bryson and Henrik didn't appear too worried about it which was absolutely brutal from the couch. Imagine if Rory were ahead by one instead of three on the last hole and having to sit through all the calculations the golf scientist was running in his head? Like relax dude. For such an entertaining tournament all weekend long I'm glad he wasn't able to pull it off because this was Rory's tournament and rightfully so.

Rory came, saw and conquered:
In all honesty if there was anyone who was going to win this tournament, maybe besides Rickie, I'm totally glad it was Rory. The stat of his last win coming the day Arnold Palmer passed away in 2016 is all more a fitting ending to this weekend's tournament and there was no chance on the back 9 where he was going to let anyone pass him. Recording a birdie on five of the last six holes was one of the most impressive stretches I've seen all season and I know the hole must've felt six feet wide for Rory on Sunday. I mean look at the list of winners so far this year? Rory, DJ, JT, Rahm, Rose, Day...Can we just get to single digit days until the Masters please? Someone just hit the fast forward button already.