Jon Rahm closes eagle-birdie-birdie for two-shot lead at Bay Hill

Rahm already has three PGA Tour wins this year and has won five of his last nine tournaments.

Jon Rahm started his round strong at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill on Thursday, before ending it even stronger – closing eagle-birdie-birdie for a seven-under 65 and a two-shot lead.

Rahm already has three PGA Tour wins this year and has won five of his last nine tournaments.

Chris Kirk, Cameron Young and Kurt Kitayama were two back, while the group three behind included defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Bay Hill newcomer Patrick Cantlay.

Rahm opened with three straight birdies but managed to hold steady the rest of the way until he could get ahead of Kirk and Young.

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The Spaniard hit only eight fairways and was twice blocked by trees – one time escaping with par with a 30-foot putt on the 15th hole.

He then hit five-iron to 25 feet on the fringe at the par-five 16th and holed it for eagle. On the par-three 17th, he hammered a seven-iron that cleared the bunker and landed in just the right spot to roll out to two feet.

On the closing hole, Rahm hit a soft nine-iron to a front pin that settled about six feet away.

Kirk, fresh from winning the Honda Classic on Sunday which was his first PGA Tour win in almost eight years after a four-year battle with alcoholism, carried on that momentum to seven birdies for a 67 during the morning round.

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While Young also had a 67 in morning conditions.

They were joined by Kurt Kitayama, who had a chance to challenge Rahm until dropping his lone shot on his final hole at number nine.

The group at 68 included defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, all among the top 20 in the world.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy was over par from his opening hole and scratched out a 73, including a double bogey on the par-five sixth hole when he drove into the water.

Pos.PlayerTo ParR1
1Jon Rahm-765
T2Chris Kirk-567
T2Cameron Young-567
T2Kurt Kitayama-567
T5Adam Schenk-468
T5Scottie Scheffler-468
T5Jordan Spieth-468
T5Aaron Rai-468
T5Xander Schauffele-468
T5Patrick Cantlay-468
T5Rickie Fowler-468
T5Keegan Bradley-468
T13Andrew Putnam-369
T13Thomas Detry-369
T13Harris English-369
T13Nick Taylor-369
T13Trey Mullinax-369
T13Justin Suh-369
T13Ben Griffin-369
T13Adam Scott-369
T13Francesco Molinari-369
T13Kyle Westmoreland-369
T23Patton Kizzire-270
T23Wyndham Clark-270
T23K.H. Lee-270
T23Matt Fitzpatrick-270
T23Davis Riley-270
T23Danny Willett-270
T23Robby Shelton-270
T23Sepp Straka-270
T23Tony Finau-270
T23Max Homa-270
T23Emiliano Grillo-270
T23Ludvig Aberg(a)-270
T35Si Woo Kim-171
T35Cam Davis-171
T35Viktor Hovland-171
T35Jason Day-171
T35Sungjae Im-171
T35Russell Henley-171
T35Luke Donald-171
T35Ryan Palmer-171
T35Cole Hammer-171
T35Greyson Sigg-171
T35Matthew NeSmith-171
T35Tyrrell Hatton-171
T35Martin Laird-171
T35Hideki Matsuyama-171
T35Peter Malnati-171
T50S.H. KimPar72
T50Sahith TheegalaPar72
T50Justin ThomasPar72
T50Adam SvenssonPar72
T50Seamus PowerPar72
T50Aaron BaddeleyPar72
T50David LipskyPar72
T50Keith MitchellPar72
T50Patrick RodgersPar72
T50Ben TaylorPar72
T50Webb SimpsonPar72
T50Chez ReaviePar72
T50Garrick HiggoPar72
T50Shane LowryPar72
T50Tom KimPar72
T50Corey ConnersPar72
T50Kevin StreelmanPar72
T50Eric ColePar72
T68Alex Noren+173
T68Taylor Moore+173
T68Stewart Cink+173
T68Tom Hoge+173
T68Zach Johnson+173
T68Will Zalatoris+173
T68Christiaan Bezuidenhout+173
T68Ryan Fox+173
T68Padraig Harrington+173
T68Will Gordon+173
T68Rory McIlroy+173
T68Billy Horschel+173
T68Tommy Fleetwood+173
T68Adrian Meronk+173
T82Callum Tarren+274
T82Sam Ryder+274
T82Lucas Herbert+274
T82J.J. Spaun+274
T82Lucas Glover+274
T82Pierceson Coody+274
T82Collin Morikawa+274
T82Mackenzie Hughes+274
T82Joel Dahmen+274
T82Charley Hoffman+274
T82Nick Hardy+274
T93Tyson Alexander+375
T93Min Woo Lee+375
T93Byeong Hun An+375
T93Ryan Brehm+375
T93Scott Stallings+375
T93Greg Koch+375
T93Brian Harman+375
T93David Lingmerth+375
T93Davis Thompson+375
T93Taylor Montgomery+375
T93Hayden Buckley+375
T93Justin Rose+375
T93Brendon Todd+375
T93Gary Woodland+375
T93Beau Hossler+375
T93Kamaiu Johnson+375
T109Justin Lower+476
T109Joseph Bramlett+476
T109Lee Hodges+476
T109Thriston Lawrence+476
T113Sam Burns+577
T113Luke List+577
T113Troy Merritt+577
T113Taylor Pendrith+577
T113Kevin Kisner+577
T113Adam Hadwin+577
119Aaron Wise+779
120Alex Smalley+880
Updated: November 29, 2023