ORLANDO, Fla. — Jordan Spieth was 16 years old the last time Lee Westwood won on the PGA Tour, in 2010.
Keegan Bradley’s 2011 PGA Championship victory and his stellar play during the 2012 Ryder Cup remain the highlights of the 34-year-old’s career.
All three golfers are hungry to create another moment Sunday at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.
The third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational ended with a packed leaderboard featuring major champions and household names.
A victory on Tour would be a long time coming for many of them, so long in the case of the 47-year-old Westwood the details are fuzzy from his victory nearly 11 years ago in Memphis.
“There’s a lot gone on since then,” Westwood said. “I don’t remember a lot.”
If Westwood can hold on for the win, he will not soon forget Saturday’s 65 on Palmer’s demanding par-72 layout. The average score for the field each day has been over par — 72.7 on Saturday.
Westwood holds a one-shot lead over 36-hole leader Corey Conners, who followed rounds of 66 and 69 with a solid 71, and beefed-up Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open winner who bashed his way around Bay Hill en route to a third-round 68.
Westwood is two shots clear of Spieth, who held a two-stroke lead early on his back nine, and Bradley, whose flawless bogey-free 8-under 64 was the tournament’s low round and his best score since a 63 in June 2019 at the Canadian Open.
Bradley now seeks his first win since the 2018 BMW Championship.
“I had a little bounce in my step today,” Bradley said. “I felt it from the moment I got on the property; I just felt ready to go.”
Severe weather in the forecast remained just south of Bay Hill. Soft rains did create favorable conditions for players on their game like Bradley and Westwood, a former world No. 1 who ended the day with a career-low score during his 49 rounds in the API dating to 1998.
Saturday’s performance continued a late career renaissance ignited by an unexpected win at the prestigious Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in January 2020, Westwood’s 25th victory on the European Tour.
“I know I’m still capable of playing well when it matters,” Westwood said.
Spieth proved he was golf’s premier closer during his victory at the 2017 Open Championship. It was his third major championship and 10th win during a three-year span when the possibilities seemed endless for golf’s so-called “Golden Child.”
Spieth’s game has lost its shine since that British Open triumph. He has gone nearly 44 months without a victory, a stretch where he has undergone swing changes and endless scrutiny from a curious public.
But the engaging 27-year-old Texan recently began to show winning form, posting a pair of top-five finishes — Spieth’s first since the 2019 PGA Championship — during February.
Spieth seized the day early Saturday with an opening birdie, followed by a hole-in-one with a 5-iron on the daunting 222-yard par-3 2nd hole.
“That was obviously a really cool moment,” he said.
Two holes later, on No. 4, Spieth’s playing partner Justin Rose withdrew from the tournament, citing back spasms and smarting from a quintuple-bogey 9 featuring three water balls at the third hole.
Spieth was left to finish his round playing solo and nearly pulled away from the pack. He arrived at the par-3 14th hole holding a two-stroke lead but needed three putts from 40 feet and made bogey.
Another bogey on the par-3 17th left him with a round of 68 that featured a little bit of everything.
“I would have signed up for 4-under to start the day, but it was an odd one,” Spieth said.
A Spieth victory Sunday surely would be a popular one with fans.
Yet, no one has captivated the crowds this week like the hulking 6-foot-1, 245-pound DeChambeau, whose go-for-broke style mimics the late Palmer.
The buzz generated by DeChambeau’s 370-yard tee shot over the lake guarding the par-5 6th hole reverberated around Bay Hill and set up an easy birdie. He then mashed an 8-iron into the wind to six feet at the 201-yard par-3 7th hole and sank the putt for a 2.
All of the oohs, aahhs and highlight-reels moments will ring hollow if DeChambeau does not reach the winner’s circle.
“I’m just trying to accomplish winning tournaments,” he said. “If I fail, I’m going to work my hardest to figure out why I failed.”
The possibility of failure will lurk at every corner Sunday.
Few know this more than Tommy Fleetwood, who still seeks his long-awaited win on the PGA Tour. At 8-under par through 54 holes, the 30-year-old Fleetwood sits three shots behind Westwood, his fellow Englishman and another player who has stumbled one too many times Stateside.
Winning on the world’s premier tour remains the ultimate measuring stick for the game’s top players.
“I think anybody would be lying if they said winning over here is not like the next step for me,” said Fleetwood, the world’s 21st-ranked player. “I haven’t done it. Winning in America is something that I need to do and I’ve had chances.”
The 2021 API winner will have little margin for error. Firm greens, thick rough, unpredictable winds and the pressure to win will conspire to produce a Sunday for someone to cherish.
“Obviously with The King’s name attached to it,” Westwood said of Palmer, “it’s a very special trophy to lift and tournament to win.”
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Spieth’s ace wasn’t the only one Saturday, nor did it have the biggest impact.
Jazz Janewattananond, a 25-year-old from Thailand, hit a 6-iron that found the hole at the 212-yard par-3 14th hole, leading tournament sponsor Mastercard to donate $200,000 to the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation.
