Jason Day hangs onto 2-shot lead at rainy Bay Hill

On a stormy morning at Bay Hill, Jason Day kept his Arnold Palmer Invitational outlook sunny.

The Aussie 36-hole leader shot 2-under 70 on a rainy Saturday in Orlando to maintain a two-shot lead heading into the final round. At 15-under 201, Day leads three players tied for second, including Henrik Stenson, Kevin Chappell and Troy Merritt.

For Day, he’s happy with a 70 that could have been considerably worse.

“I felt like I couldn’t get any momentum, especially with the umbrella up and down, the rain gear on and off,” Day said. “All that said, I feel like I stayed patient to ground out a 2-under par.”

After an opening par, Day bogeyed the lengthy par-3 second before ripping off three birdies to turn in 2 under par. From the middle of the fairway at the par-4 11th, however, Day found the water hazard guarding the left, leading to his only back-nine bogey. He made easy work of the short par-5 16th for birdie. The story throughout the round, however, was safely two-putting for pars from 25 and 30 feet.

For Stenson, his momentum was stymied three times by plugged lies in bunkers, two of them leading to bogeys. Nonetheless, he shot 70 to keep pace with Day.

“It’s definitely a case of staying out of the sand,” Stenson said.

The field played in split-tee threesomes early on Saturday to avoid stormy weather. However, on Sunday, it’s back to pairings off the first tee. Day goes off in the last group with Troy Merritt, the 2015 Quicken Loans National winner who, with 67, was first in the house at 13 under par.

Justin Rose and Derek Fathauer are tied for fifth, four back of Day.

Adam Scott found the water hazard at the par-4 18th with his approach, leading to a triple-bogey 7 that leaves him nine behind his fellow countryman.

Rory McIlroy continues to struggle this week, shooting a second 75 of the tournament, complete with three double bogeys.

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

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