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If you’ll excuse the pun, Jason Day had one of those days that don’t come around too often: the Australian, a former world number one and US PGA champion, suffered a bizarre sequence of events in the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, with back-to-back double-bogeys, but somehow managed to stay very much in contention.
As Canadian Corey Connors assumed the clubhouse lead on nine-under-par 135, after he added a second round 69 to his opening 66, it was Day, without a win dating back to his 2018 Wells Fargo Championship success, who went in search of the wrong type of birdie.
On the 16th hole, his eighth having started on the 10th, Day was required to get his hands on some binoculars in an attempt to identity his ball which had finished up in a nest up a tree.
“I zoomed in on it and I’ve got the ball, well I don’t have the ball, but I could see the Tour BXS on the logo on the side, and I’m like, ‘that’s it, perfect’ . . . . it was a little unfortunate that it got stuck up, it was literally in a nest. So I think the mama birdie’s going to come back and find another egg there, it’s unfortunate but it is what it is.”
Day was required to take an unplayable lie and ultimately ran up a double-bogey six and then followed up with another double-bogey six on the 18th after his approached found a fried egg lie in a greenside bunker. To his credit, he responded with a homeward run that included three birdies as he signed for a 72 for 142, which left him seven shots adrift of Connors.
“This is a very special place to me. I used to live here when I first came over here to America, I mean like only five minutes down the road, so to be able to be here, I know the last few years haven’t panned out the right way, but my body’s feeling tremendous and I feel good about where I’m at, so I just got to keep pushing along,” said Day.
While Connors – whose only PGA Tour win came in the 2019 Valero Texas Open – moved into the clubhouse lead on 135, two shots clear of in-form Norwegian Viktor Hovland, the four-strong Irish contingent in the invitational field had contrasting fortunes in their efforts to survive the midway cut.
Pádraig Harrington, who suffered from stomach pains throughout last week’s Puerto Rico Open and was hospitalised for kidney stones earlier in the week, managed to make the cut after adding a second round 74 to his opening 70 for a 36-holes total of 144 to comfortably make it.
However, Graeme McDowell’s miserable start to the season continued when, despite a second round 70, he finished alongside Shane Lowry on five-over-par 149. It meant a third missed cut in four appearances so far in 2021 for McDowell, who has slipped outside the world’s top-100 in recent weeks.
Rory McIlroy, winner of the API in 2018, again showed his liking for the Bay Hill layout in moving into contention for another tilt at the title: the world number eight shot a 71 in his second round to go seven-under for the tournament, as he set himself up for a weekend challenge.
On the LPGA Tour, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda – eyeing another Solheim Cup appearance later this season – showed her well-being with a brilliant second round 65 for a midway total of eight-under- par 136 to claim the midway clubhouse lead.
Leona Maguire – continuing her good form on the back of a top-20 finish in last week’s Gainbridge Championship – recorded a second round 71 for a midway total of four-under-par 140. Inside the top-10 heading into the weekend, Maguire’s round of three birdies and two bogeys enabled her to get into a strong challenging position going into the weekend. Stephanie Meadow, with rounds of 71 and 75 for 146, also made the cut.