Will Zalatoris ‘plugs’ Arnold Palmer Invitational chances with late sandy blunders

Midway through the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Will Zalatoris held a five-shot lead.

He was on cruise control, playing error-free golf and making putts from anywhere.

Zalatoris then hit his tee shot on the par-3 14th into a greenside bunker, and his round began to fall apart.

He was unable to get up or down to save par, resulting in his first bogey of the day.

With this bogey, he remained in the lead but fell back to 10 under par in the race for the championship.

“I played really well,” Zalatoris said. “Play 42 holes without a bogey and win it. Obviously the finish wasn’t what I wanted. It’s just Bay Hill.”

But things got even worse on the par-4 15th, one of the most difficult holes at Bay Hill.

“I had a bad tee shot on the 15th, I was basically half-stuck and hit a fiery tee shot there,” Zalatoris said.

I found a trap in the corner of the right dogleg, and when I tried to take the medicine, the second shot got caught on the edge of the trap. As a result, his ball fumbled 47 yards out and ended up in deep rough.

“If you hit a mediocre golf shot, you’re going to get penalized right away,” Zalatoris added.

“Like the shot I hit on No. 15, I pushed it six yards to the right from where I was aiming, and the second shot I hit with my 8-iron ended up being a false plug lie. It’s like receiving what you give.”

Zalatoris then found the center of the 15th green with the third green 36 feet away. But he three-putted and made double bogey.

This puts him back at 8 under, leaving Windham Clark in sole possession of the lead for the time being.

Zalatoris recovered with a birdie on the easy par-5 16th, but the par-4 18th suffered the same fate as the 15th.

“I hit a pretty low drive on No. 18, and just like that, I got caught again,” Zalatoris said.

Photo by Mike Ehrman/Getty Images

“I think I counted. This is my fourth year here and I’ve had 19 balls stuck here, so needless to say the bunkers here are not my favorite. I made some great putts. Most of them. I drove pretty well in that part. Yeah, I’m still in the middle of a ball game, but as much as I’d be disappointed if it ended like this.”

In the end, Zalatoris’ ball crashed into the greenside bunker, creating a suspenseful situation. With water looming on the other side of the green, Zalatoris had to be careful where he hit his third shot.

He hit it smartly to a safe spot on the apron in front of the green, but was unable to get it up or down.

Unfortunately, he hit another double bogey and fell back to seven under for the championship, settling for a one-under 71.

“I think it was 5 under, 11 or 12 or whatever it was,” Zalatoris said.

“If they had extended that stretch to the last 36 holes, I probably wouldn’t have been so disappointed. I’m playing great golf. I hit three really bad shots and lost five shots. I did.”

Despite these accidents, Zalatoris still has a chance. He is scheduled to face Clark in Sunday’s penultimate draw.

Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry share the 54-hole lead at 9 under, with him trailing by two strokes.

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.