Henrik Stenson unhappy to go on clock at Bay Hill as putter lets him down

For the first three rounds of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Henrik Stenson ranked second in the field in strokes gained putting.

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In the final round at Bay Hill, Stenson was last in the field.

That pretty well explains why Stenson lost a two-shot lead entering the final round, finishing second to defending champion Matt Every and becoming the ninth consecutive 54-hole leader or co-leader to fail to seal the deal on the PGA Tour.

A pair of critical three-putts — or what amounted to three-putts — down the stretch were the difference between winning and losing by a shot.

Stenson hit the green at the par-4 15th, leaving himself 45 feet for birdie. The Swede got overly aggressive with the birdie bid, sending his putt a little over 5 feet beyond the hole. He missed the comebacker to drop a shot as Every was charging.

On the par-5 16th, Stenson’s second shot went just over the green, landing in the fringe. He hit the fast putt too hard, leaving himself 10 feet for birdie. He missed, tapping in for par on the one stretch hole with the best chance for birdie.

Stenson said afterwards he was unhappy with PGA Tour rules officials who put him and playing competitor Morgan Hoffmann on the clock on the 15th hole. Stenson said he rushed his reads down the stretch to avoid falling behind further. Ultimately, his 2-under 70 simply wasn’t good enough to win.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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