Arnold Palmer Invitational 2016: Final Leaderboard Scores, Prize-Money Payouts

Jason Day entered the final round of the 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational with a two-stroke advantage over three others but was in for a challenge over the last 18 holes at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida.

Sunday's final round was a roller-coaster affair for Day as others climbed the leaderboard, but he managed to hang on thanks to a two-under score of 70 to win by one stroke over Kevin Chappell.  

Here is a look at the top performers from Bay Hill and the sizable paychecks they collected for their work:

Pos.	Player	Scores	To Par	Prize Money
1	Jason Day	66-65-70-71	-17	$1,134,000
2	Kevin Chappell	68-68-67-69	-16	$680,400
T3	Henrik Stenson	67-66-70-71	-14	$365,400
T3	Troy Merritt	67-69-67-71	-14	$365,400
5	Zach Johnson	70-70-68-68	-12	$252,000
T6	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	70-69-73-65	-11	$220,500
T6	Hideki Matsuyama	70-69-71-67	-11	$220,500
T6	Jamie Lovemark	68-68-71-70	-11	$220,500
T9	Paul Casey	68-69-72-69	-10	$170,100
T9	Francesco Molinari	68-72-69-69	-10	$170,100
T9	Justin Rose	68-66-71-73	-10	$170,100

Day had three bogeys against two birdies in his first six holes, as Sunday's round got off to a turbulent start.

Everything steadied to a degree for the defending PGA champion when he hit a marvelous approach to the par-four ninth from the rough, leading to a momentous birdie:

Speaking of wild rounds, Troy Merritt played in the final pairing alongside Day and suffered two double bogeys on the opening nine. Then he followed with five straight birdies after the turn, capped by a chip-in from the sand at No. 14:

Merritt also chipped in for par on the 17th hole but unfortunately flared his approach to the 18th into the water, which led to a third double bogey in a round of 71.

Another birdie at the par-five 12th helped Day recover from an early slide, and he parred every other hole until No. 17. A piped 5-iron off the tee preceded a clutch center-cut birdie putt to go up by one stroke entering the last hole.

But as was evident in Merritt's case, Bay Hill's closing par four is a most challenging hole, especially with the far-right pin location. Although Day blocked his tee shot into the right rough, he had a good enough lie to slug a long iron into one of the greenside bunkers.

A magnificent, longer bunker play got Day relatively close to the hole for a par save, and he drained it to take the trophy.

Comcast SportsNet's John Middlekauff thought Day's play was among the best from the beach of all time—and it didn't seem too hyperbolic:

Chappell put up a valiant fight in the group ahead but also went too far right off the tee. A bad lie forced him to lay up, and he couldn't manage better than bogey at the 18th.

Fox Sports' Shane Bacon reacted to Day's triumph, implying one of the game's biggest stars made a massive statement to the most elite of his peers:

Golf Channel's Will Gray illustrated just how well the top-tier golfers are playing of late:

Justin Ray of Golf Channel noticed a trend among the Australians who have dominated the PGA Tour's Florida Swing following Day's sixth victory in the past 13 months or so as the Masters Tournament awaits next month:

Day moves to No. 2 in the world rankings with the win and certainly has a lot of momentum to draw on in anticipation of Augusta National.

After a slow start to the 2015-16 campaign, this was a week in which he showed the dominance flashed during the second half of last year and also the grit that helped him come out on top in the PGA Championship.

A unique event is next on the PGA Tour schedule with the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play starting Wednesday. Only the best players in the world are invited to participate in the head-to-head format, which may help some of the top players get in the competitive spirit ahead of the Masters.

Adam Scott had won his prior two starts and quietly had a decent outing at Bay Hill, finishing tied for 12th. He's a past green jacket winner and is as hot as any player on the planet right now.

Another man to keep an eye on in the impending few weeks is Rory McIlroy. Inconsistency has plagued him recently, yet McIlroy had a wonderful closing round of 65 at Bay Hill to salvage a tie for 27th and perhaps put him back on track as he gears up for a career Grand Slam bid at Augusta.

Post-Round Reaction

Day hinted at how much it meant to win at a tournament hosted by a legend in Arnold Palmer but also acknowledged he's focused on his own career.

"You can start your own legacy here," said Day, per the tournament's official Twitter feed, adding, "The only thing I'm worried about is winning as many times as I can."

Chappell admitted hearing the roar when Day birdied No. 17 made him think a bit, saying, per the Associated Press' Doug Ferguson (via PGA.com), "Being honest, kind of had me rattled a little bit."

The 29-year-old who still hasn't won on the PGA Tour had another noteworthy, candid quote that was worth admiring considering the close call he'd just endured.

"It's obviously those things—one of many—why [Day]'s been the No. 1 player in the world, and why I'm the 150th player in the world," Chappell said, per Ferguson. "You just can't bogey the last when you're in contention, and hats off to Jason. He played well, real clutch down the stretch. And I'll learn from this and get better."

McIlroy had six double bogeys for the week. Erase those mistakes off his scorecard, and he played the other holes in 18 under par—good enough to win.

"Pretty much every week there's a lot of good golf in there, which you've seen on Friday and today. I'm just making a lot of mistakes," said McIlroy, per Ferguson.