Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leishman Wins Red Cardigan

When Marc Leishman drained a 51-foot putt for eagle to take the lead for good on Sunday, the Bay Hill crowd let out an electrifying roar. But it wasn't an Arnold Palmer roar. There never again will be an Arnold Palmer roar.

Palmer, the King, passed away at 87 last September, so this Arnold Palmer Invitational was a somber one. There was sadness that the leader of Arnie's Army was gone, but my goodness, it was as if Palmer was at Bay Hill. All week, golfer after golfer recounted their favorite Palmer anecdotes. His personal golf cart was stationed at the 16th tee, Palmer's favorite spot to watch his tournament. Heck, even his blood was there, in the form of grandson Sam Saunders, who just missed weekend play by a single stroke.

At the trophy presentation, after Leishman's 16th-hole eagle stood up for a one-stroke win over Kevin Kisner and Charley Hoffman, Saunders said a few words where his grandfather would have. Then came the most poignant moment in a week of poignant moments: Saunders presented Leishman with a red cardigan, a staple of Palmer's wardrobe.

"I'm very, very happy to be wearing this cardigan," Leishman said. "It's an honor."

The sweater will be presented to the winner every year, and it instantly becomes the second-most coveted article of clothing in golf behind a Masters green jacket.

The victory sends Leishman back to Augusta, a course well suited for his game. He finished fourth there in 2013. The Australian withdrew before the 2015 Masters because of his wife's illness; she had toxic shock syndrome and was given only a five percent chance of survival. Audrey Leishman was there in Orlando on Sunday to celebrate with her husband and their two young children.

Leishman showcased at Bay Hill what makes him an Augusta dark horse. His brilliant play on the greens, culminating with the long eagle, moved him to second on Tour in strokes gained putting. That's one of a few reasons he was among our value picks, and at the bargain-basement price of $6,800, we do mean value.

It was Leishman's second PGA Tour victory, after the 2012 Travelers. It's hard to supplant a golfer's first career win in his pantheon of big moments, but this remarkable week at Bay Hill just might.

"You see guys win and he's waiting there on the back of the green," Leishman said of past APIs. "And to not have that is obviously very sad, but to win here is just a dream come true."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Kevin Kisner

Kisner was quietly – but not so quietly anymore – having a nice start to 2017. Four top-25s, including a couple of top-10s, entering the week. And when he opened a three-stroke lead at the turn on Sunday, he appeared ready to claim his second career title. But he played the back nine in 2-over, tumbling into a tie for second. Presumably, Kisner won't let the disappointment linger, and he'll continue his season with strong play.

Rory McIlroy

After an opening-round 74, McIlroy played much better the next three days to tie for fourth, two strokes behind Leishman. This was not a back-door top-10, however. McIlroy briefly had a share of the lead late on Sunday. It really would've been fitting had he won; of all today's golfers, McIlroy comes closest to Palmer's swashbuckling style. Returning from a rib injury with a T7 two weeks ago at the WGC-Mexico, McIlroy has now overtaken Jason Day for No. 2 in the world and his game is spot-on heading into this week's WGC-Match Play. He was the winner there in 2015, fourth a year ago. Would it surprise anyone if he won again?

Adam Hadwin

Not only was it impressive that Hadwin was able to follow last week's maiden win with another outstanding showing, he did it without the hallmark of his game. Hadwin tied for sixth at Bay Hill while finishing 49th in SGP at -.044. In winning the Valspar, he was fourth in SGP. Hadwin is scheduled to get married on Friday and won't play again till the Masters. After two life-altering events so close together, we'll see how Hadwin responds at Augusta, where his strong putting game could keep him in the conversation deep into the tournament.

Lucas Glover

Speaking of putting, Glover can't do it so well. And it's a shame, because his tee-to-green game has been outstanding this season. After five really leans years, the former U.S. Open champ sits top-20 in the FedEx Cup point standings. Glover tied for seventh at Bay Hill, and he did so with negative strokes gained putting, in 50th position just behind Hadwin. Glover is sixth on tour in greens in regulation, ninth in strokes gained tee-to-green and 118th in SGP. He's missed only one cut in nine starts and continues to be an excellent, low-priced DraftKings play.

Tommy Fleetwood

We were this close to adding Fleetwood as a value pick. Then felt relieved that we didn't after he opened with a 78. And now … well … Fleetwood roared back to not only make the cut but tie for 10th. He putted really well for him, 21st in SGP on the week, and if he can come anywhere near that again this week in the Match Play, he will make some noise. Fleetwood was T5 there two years ago.

Kyle Stanley

Just like Glover, Stanley has been among our favorite plays week-in and week-out. We don't think either will get a win, but every successful lineup needs low-priced guys not only to make the cut but hopefully secure a high finish. Stanley was T17 at Bay Hill, his fourth top-25 in 10 starts. He's missed only two cuts. He's been a lot like Glover in simply getting the ball up the fairway and onto the green in a timely fashion (seventh in GIR). The biggest difference between the two has been putting. Whereas Glover has been mediocre, Stanley has been horrid, at 179th in SGP.

Jason Day

Here's another guy who's been putting woefully. Day had been among the top putters on Tour the past few years. He has only 18 rounds of action, but he's shockingly 142nd in SGP. You'd think that would right itself, but who knows? Guys forget how to putt all the time. Day won the API last year and then the Match Play a week later. He was T23 at Bay Hill. Hard to envision a long week at Austin Country Club for Day without at least some success on the greens.

Russell Henley

We hadn't taken much notice of Henley until last week, when he tied for ninth at the Valspar. But it was his sixth top-25 already this season. So we paid close attention to Henley at Bay Hill, where he was in solid position through three rounds. And then he blew up with a 77 on Sunday to plummet to T45. At this point, with the body of work this season, we'll chalk that up to one bad round. Stay tuned.

Henrik Stenson

Stenson had poor iron play at the Valspar and still tied for seventh. We, and a lot of folk, figured he'd correct that issue at Bay Hill. He didn't. Stenson missed the cut at a course where he had strung together four successive top-eight cashes. The Swede will skip the Match Play and return for the Shell Houston Open in advance of the Masters. He'll surely find his dead-on iron game by then, right? Again, stay tuned. This development has been surprising but also cautionary.

Scott Brown

Since tying for second behind Dustin Johnson at Riviera, Brown tied for 57th at the Honda before missed cuts at Copperhead and now Bay Hill. We'll know the depth of this slide this week. Brown will tee it up at the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open, where he's been top-10 four of past five years, including win in 2013.

RotoWire value picks

Last week: Winner (Hadwin), three top-10s, seven top-25s, six missed cuts.

This week: Winner (Leishman), four top-10s, nine top-25s, two missed cuts.

This was collectively one of our best weeks, and we say that despite our overall top pick, Henrik Stenson, missing the cut. Our other three Tier 1 picks were all top-15: Tyrrell Hatton at T4, Rickie Fowler at T12 and Justin Rose at T13. In Tier 2, our top choice, Thomas Pieters, also trunk-slammed. But Francesco Molinari tied for seventh. Zach Johnson and Jason Kokrak unspectacularly reached the weekend. We really liked Martin Kaymer at $7,400 in Tier 3, and he rewarded our faith with a T23. Kyle Stanley was even better at T17. Wesley Bryan and Charles Howell III, both vastly underpriced, made the cut but nothing else. Our long-shot picks were gold. Marc Leishman won, Lucas Glover was T7 and Brian Harman was T13. Ian Poulter rounded out the long shots with a T41.

We did not cash in our DraftKings cash game, finishing 31st out of 57th. Unfortunately, we didn't use some of our best value picks, going with Hatton, Glover, Kaymer, Poulter, Johnson and Stenson for a total of 360 points.