Australian Jason Day grinds out wire-to-wire win to take Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill

Jason Day sank a 12-foot birdie putt at 17 and rescued par from a bunker at 18 on Sunday to win the PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational by a single stroke.

The 28-year-old Australian became the first wire-to-wire winner at Orlando’s famed Bay Hill layout since Fred Couples in 1992, just weeks before Couples went on to win the Masters.

Day, who rises to world number two with the triumph, hopes to fit himself for a green jacket at the year’s first major tournament in three weeks after collecting the trophy from Palmer, an Augusta National legend.

“It means the world,” Day said of the victory. “I just ground it out today. It wasn’t the best I had but I got it done when I wasn’t quite on.”

Day fired a two-under-par 70 to finish on 17-under 271, defeating American Kevin Chappell by one with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and American Troy Merritt sharing third on 274 after battling Day throughout the final round.

Day collected his eighth PGA victory, his first since last September’s BMW Championship and his fourth in a row when leading after 54 holes. But it was intense.

Stenson, Day and Chappell shared the lead at 16-under with five holes remaining, four of them playing among the course’s five toughest, and Merritt was only a shot adrift after four back-nine birdies in a row following a double bogey at the ninth.