McILROY'S CHALLENGERS LET HIM
OFF THE HOOK IN CLOSING STAGES
Long-time leader Rory McIlroy bogeyed the 12th hole in the final round of the Honda Classic at PGA National, Palm Beach Garden,s Florida to drop back to 10 under par and fall into a triple tie for the No 1 position with Ryan Palmer (-10 after 15 holes) and Scotland's Russell Knox (-10 after 13 holes).
Russell Henley was -9 after 12 holes.
But a par by McIlroy at the 13th was good enough to see him regain a one-shot lead at 10 under par with five to play.
Palmer bogeyed the 16 to fall back to nine under par with two to play.
Knox double-bogeyed the 14th to be eight under with four to play ... a crucial mistake at this late stage and in this level of company.
Henley birdied the 14th to join McIlroy in the lead at 10 under par.
HOW THEY STAND
Rory McIroy -10 after 14 holes
Russell Henley - 10 after 14
Ryan Palmer -9 after 17 holes
Russell Knox - 8 after 15
CLUBHOUSE FINAL TOTALS
Par 280 (4x70) Players from USA unless stated
273 Bill Hurley 70 67 67 69
274 David Hearn (Canada) 67 70 70 67, Will MacKenzie 67 68 69 70.
275 Sergio Garcia (Spain) 72 68 68 67, David Lingmerth (Sweden) 69 68 68 70
276 Andres Romero (Argentina) 70 68 71 67, Matteo Manassero (Italy) 67 71 71 67, Paul Casey (England) 72 68 69 67, Chris Stroud 69 66 73 68, Chris Kirk 69 67 72 68, Adam Scott (Australia) 68 69 70 69, Martin Flores 69 70 68 69, George McNeill 70 67 69 70, Freddie Jacobson (Sweden) 69 69 67 71, Daniel Summerhays 70 65 69 72
SELECTED FINAL TOTALS
277 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 71 69 68 69, Rickie Fowler 69 69 69 70, Patrick Reed 71 67 70 69, Nick Watney 71 69 70 67
278 Zach Johnson 67 70 68 73
280 Graeme McDowell (N Ireland) 70 67 72 71, Lee Westwood (England) 68 65 73 74, Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 69 66 70 75
281 Jamie Donaldson(Wales) 65 69 72 75
284 Brendon de Jonge (S Africa) 66 64 76 78.