Rory McIlroy, Greg Norman and a Whole Lot of Tiger Woods: Ranking Bay Hill's Best Moments

The PGA Tour’s annual stop at Arnie's place has a half century of history, and Gary Van Sickle remembers some especially memorable years, many featuring you-know-who.

Random thought: Is there a better compliment for the late Arnold Palmer than the fact that Tiger Woods won his tournament a record eight times?

This is Arnold Palmer Invitational week, or Bay Hill week in caddie shorthand. It feels like the House That Arnie Built even though the tournament, formerly known as the Florida Citrus Open, didn’t move from Rio Pinar to Bay Hill until 1978, three years after Palmer purchased Bay Hill.

Some Bay Hill trivia you should know: Palmer never won at Bay Hill. He won the 1971 Florida Citrus Open at Rio Pinar, located east of Orlando, getting redemption after he missed a four-foot putt that would have gotten him into a playoff with Bob Lunn the year before.

More Bay Hill trivia: When Payne Stewart won the 1987 Bay Hill Classic, he donated his entire winner’s check of $108,000 to the Florida Hospital’s cancer wing. That same week, Don Pooley scored a $1 million bonus for a hole-in-one at the 17th hole, with $500,000 going to him at $2,083 a month for the next 20 years, and $500,000 going to the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. “I think I’ll retire,” quipped Pooley, who didn’t.

Trivia is another word for well-aged history. Bay Hill is well aged and full of history. The Ranking examines some of its most memorable tournaments …

10. 1983: Someday, This Will Feel Familiar

The $350,000 Bay Hill Classic came down to a duel between journeyman Mike Nicolette and a young Greg Norman. Nicolette, a Pittsburgh native, lost all of the six-shot lead he had going into the final round but held on to get into a playoff with Norman. Nicolette missed the green on the first extra hole, the par-4 15th, but chipped close for a tap-in par. Norman three-putted for bogey from 30 feet after rolling his first putt six feet past.

“Maybe most guys would try to two-putt from there, but I was trying to make it,” Norman said later. “I’m an aggressive player.” Yeah, how’d that work out?

9. 1991: Press Here to Begin …

The legend of Tiger Woods was built one W at a time, and it got serious at Bay Hill, which hosted the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship. A 15-year-old from Cypress, Calif., became the event’s youngest winner in what would be the first of his stunning six consecutive national championships—three Junior Ams, three U.S. Ams—but it was not classic Tiger. Woods, a sophomore-to-be at Western High School, was 3 down after six holes to Brad Zwetschke of Kankakee, Ill., but swept five holes in a row and took the lead. Uncharacteristically (we’d learn later), Woods badly hooked a drive at 18 and lost the hole, forcing a playoff. Zwetschke butchered the first extra hole, missing a four-foot putt for bogey, and Woods survived for the historic win. The next day, Woods told The New York Times, “I want to become the Michael Jordan of golf. I’d like to be the best ever.” How’d that one work out? Nailed it.

8. 2008: 'And the Oscar for Best Hat-Slam Goes to …'

Was even Tiger Woods surprised by this Arnold Palmer Invitational? Maybe. Woods faced a curvy 25-footer for birdie to win on the 18th green, and as the ball neared the cup, he took several steps toward it. When the putt dropped, Woods pulled off his cap and slammed in on the ground in triumph. He needed a pair of 66s on the weekend to outlast Bart Bryant, who shot 68–67. It was victory No. 64, by the way, which tied him with Ben Hogan on the all-time list.

7. 2003: The Barf Hill Invitational?

If this was a fight, it would have been stopped. Tiger Woods rolled to an 11-shot victory over Kirk Triplett and the rest of the B flight to win at Bay Hill for a fourth straight time. But there was still drama. Woods suffered apparent food poisoning the night before the final round. (How many times do we have to tell him not to eat the green kryptonite?) Woods struggled to make it around the course in Sunday’s final round while still shooting 68 in a light rain with frequent port-a-potty visits and bent-over, doubled-up-in-spasm moments. “If I hadn’t been in contention, I wouldn’t have shown up,” Woods said later. No 11-shot win has ever been less fun for the winner.

6. 2012: We Now Return to the Regularly Scheduled TigerMania …

He’s ba-aaaack! Tiger Woods looked as dominant as ever in yet another Arnold Palmer Invitational win, and this was more meaningful than most. The Associated Press described it thusly: “It was his first PGA Tour victory since a sex scandal at the end of 2009 led to one of the greatest downfalls in sports.” You may remember these key words—fire hydrant; Escalade; Rachel Uchitel; sex addiction therapy; and a televised press conference apology.

This win put that sordid period in the rearview mirror. Woods won by five over Graeme McDowell and described his feeling of winning in two words: “Pure joy.”

5. 1982: A Day Jack Will Never Remember

This Bay Hill Classic had legendary written all over it. Jack Nicklaus had a one-shot lead going into the final round, and Raymond Floyd was hot on his heels. The finish was legendary for all the wrong reasons. Nicklaus shot 75 (when 74 would’ve been good enough for the win), and Floyd shot 76. It was “funky-spunky-punky” Tom Kite, as The Washington Post called him in its report, whose closing 69 was epic, who swiped this win. The wild finish featured a three-man playoff. Nicklaus narrowly missed a 20-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. Then Kite, wearing a bright-red sweater and checkered pants, chipped in from just off the fringe and awkwardly bounced up and down in jubilation. When Denis Watson missed his 15-foot birdie try, Kite was the winner. “Is that like stealing?” Kite joked later about his come-from-behind win.

Said Nicklaus, “I never played in a threesome where I saw so many bad shots. I’ll totally forget this day, I hope.”

4. 2013: Eight Is Enough

You know the routine. The PGA Tour goes to Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Tiger Woods wins. This one made eight, tying Woods with Sam Snead for the most victories in one event. Snead won the Greensboro Open eight times. This win also bumped Woods back into the No. 1 world ranking, a pinnacle he’d been out of for 29 months. The only real drama was whether the tournament would finish. A fierce storm suspended play Sunday after Woods and Rickie Fowler, in the last group, had played only two holes. Woods led by three when play resumed Monday, when he made the turn and as he walked to the 18th green. He finished two shots ahead of Justin Rose and earned a congratulatory tweet from his then girlfriend skier Lindsey Vonn.

3. 2018: Lots of Roars, Too Much Rors

This was one star-studded finishing round. Rory McIlroy joined Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose near the lead halfway through the final 18 with Bryson DeChambeau lurking and even Tiger Woods making a serious move. But it was McIlroy who put on a charge that Arnold Palmer would be proud of with five birdies over the last six holes to top DeChambeau by three. McIlroy, who shot 64, hadn’t won since the 2016 Tour Championship, which finished on the same day Palmer died at age 87.

“It’s ironic to think that the last time I won was when Arnie passed away,” he said. “To be able to create my own little piece of history on the 18th green here was pretty special. I’m just so happy to be back in the winner’s circle again and win a tournament that has Arnold Palmer’s name on it.”

2. 1990: Just Another Sharknado

Robert Gamez stood in the fairway on the Nestle Invitational’s 72nd hole 176 yards away from a big payday. A birdie would get him in a playoff with superstar Greg Norman; a par would get him a tie for second place. Neither happened. Gamez hit an angelic 7-iron shot that disappeared into the hole for an eagle, giving him a stunning win and giving Norman another heartbreaking loss. By this time, Norman had already lost the 1986 PGA to Bob Tway’s bunker holeout and the ’87 Masters to Larry Mize’s chip-in. Norman rejected the idea that he was snakebit: “No, I just love to play. I’ll be around a lot longer than some of these guys.”

Gamez was the PGA Tour’s Rookie of the Year in 1990. The Nestle Invitational was his second win. He wouldn’t get his third and final career victory until 2005.

1. 2001: Tiger Versus Phil—Can You Guess?

We didn’t get many Tiger Woods–Phil Mickelson showdowns, but this was a classic. Mickelson inched ahead with a pair of birdies late in the final round, but Woods tied him with a stunning two-putt birdie at the par-5 16th after nearly hooking his drive out of bounds. At 18, Woods yanked another drive left that appeared as if it were going out of bounds. Instead, it hit a spectator and stayed in play. Woods took relief from a cart path, then hit a 5-iron over the water to 15 feet. Did he make the putt for the win? Duh. This was vintage prime-time Tiger. It was his second straight Bay Hill title and his 25th victory in 96 PGA Tour starts—a ridiculous statistic.