McIlroy Shuts Up Johnny With Amazing Shot on 18 at Bay Hill

When you reach the height of a particular field, there are always those who want to knock you down a peg. For Rory McIlroy, he’s made enough money and won enough tournaments that not much can really bother him anymore, but it’s always nice to put up a nice rebuttal, even if you don’t know you need to “defend” yourself.

Playing his final hole of the second round, McIlroy had 147 yards to the iconic 18th hole at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge when NBC analyst Johnny Miller launched into a diatribe about McIlroy’s fitness routine as he hit his approach.

“This is probably a controversial comment, but I think if (McIlroy) would have never gone to a gym, he would’ve played way better the last five years,” Miller said. “He was so good, remember? He was phenomenal, and now he’s gotten so ripped that I’m not sure in golf you need to be ripped.”

For what it’s worth, McIlroy has won 11 times in the last five years, four times on the European Tour, three times on the PGA Tour, two major championships and two World Golf Championships.

McIlroy’s approach ended up two feet from the cup, which he tapped in for a 5-under par round of 67 to place himself in prime position two shots back of Henrik Stenson heading into Sunday’s final round.

Bryson DeChambeau is one shot back of Stenson and the likes of Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler, Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed are all within five shots heading into Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Here are the complete third round highlights.

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