Day maintains lead at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Playing early in the morning to beat the rain, the wet weather was challenging but not enough to derail Day, who is 15-under in his bid for a wire-to-wire victory in Orlando.

Published : Mar 20, 2016 18:15 IST , Orlando (Florida)

"I felt like I couldn't get any momentum, especially with the umbrella up and down, the rain gear on and off," Day said.
"I felt like I couldn't get any momentum, especially with the umbrella up and down, the rain gear on and off," Day said.
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"I felt like I couldn't get any momentum, especially with the umbrella up and down, the rain gear on and off," Day said.

Jason Day has been in control all week and nothing changed on Saturday as he fired a two-under-par 70 to maintain his lead heading into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

World number three Day holed four birdies and two bogeys to stay two shots clear atop the leaderboard at Bay Hill.

Playing early in the morning to beat the rain, the wet weather was challenging but not enough to derail Day, who is 15-under in his bid for a wire-to-wire victory in Orlando.

"I felt like I couldn't get any momentum, especially with the umbrella up and down, the rain gear on and off," Day said. "All that said, I feel like I stayed patient to ground out a two-under par."

Henrik Stenson, Troy Merritt and Kevin Chappell are tied for second and two shots off the pace.

Last year's runner-up Stenson, who started his round with two birdies and an eagle on the first six holes, struggled in the wet weather following his 70.

American duo Merritt and Chappell both carded five-under-par 67s.

Merritt had a flawless front nine with three birdies but dropped two shots after the turn, while Chappell had six birdies to go with just one bogey.

Justin Rose dropped from third to fifth, alongside Derek Fathauer (69), following his third-round 71.

Emiliano Grillo (68) and Jamie Lovemark (71) are at nine under through 54 holes, while Smylie Kaufman (68), Zach Johnson (68), Chris Kirk (69) and K.J. Choi (70) are a stroke further back.

In-form Australian Adam Scott came into the tournament seeking his third successive win, but triple-bogeyed the par-four 18th for a round of 70 to be at six under.

"I mean, it's been pretty good. Made a double and a triple, it's pretty costly," Scott said. "If it's not for that, I'm right there. I think it's easy to be critical of everything, but I think my game is pretty good so I'll just try and tighten it up a little bit."

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