Two weeks after admitting to "throwing away" a chance to win the Honda Classic, Ian Poulter put himself in position to make amends in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Poulter held a three-shot lead in the weather-delayed final round at PGA National, only to dump five balls into the water in a closing 74 which left him one shot outside the play-off between eventual winner Padraig Harrington and Daniel Berger.
There were no such mistakes from the Ryder Cup star on Thursday however, a flawless round of 67 at Bay Hill leaving Poulter in a tie for second on five under par, one shot behind American Morgan Hoffmann.
Hoffmann fired four birdies and an eagle - holing out from a bunker on the par-five sixth - despite discovering before the round that his grandmother had passed away in the early hours of the morning at the age of 97.
Poulter had his own family worries when his youngest son Joshua was taken to hospital this week suffering from pneumonia, but told Sky Sports 4: "It's nice to have him back home and hopefully he has a speedy recovery."
Speaking about a round containing three birdies and an eagle on the 16th, Poulter added: "I played lovely today, as nice as I have in a few weeks. I've hit it very close and had plenty of chances, a few lip-outs but no mistakes and a clean card which is key."
On a crowded leaderboard, Poulter was joined on five under by American quartet Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na, Ken Duke and John Peterson, with the likes of Adam Scott, Harrington, Henrik Stenson, Keegan Bradley and former winner Martin Laird all on four under.
Brandt Snedeker also recorded a 68 after enjoying an amazing piece of good luck when his approach to the 18th twice bounced off the rocks on the edge of a water hazard and onto the green.
"I've never seen that happen before," Snedeker told reporters after his round. "I've seen some crazy bounces there before, but none like that. That's probably why I'm so upset. I got the hard part over with, hit the rocks twice to five feet underneath the hole, straight up the hill, and hit a terrible putt and missed it."
World number one Rory McIlroy had no such luck on the 16th, his approach to the par five pitching into a bank short of the green and rolling back down into the water.
That was the only green McIlroy failed to hit in regulation - equalling his career best - and led to a bogey six, but the four-time major winner birdied the 18th to card a two-under-par 70.
"I feel okay," said McIlroy, who has yet to break 70 on the PGA Tour in 2015. "I saw a lot of positives out there and was just trying to stay as patient as possible.
"The greens are not quite as good as they could be and if it had been a better putting day it could have been a lot lower but I feel a lot better about my game and it was nice to finish with a birdie."
McIlroy is playing in his final event before attempting to complete the career grand slam with victory in the Masters next month and added on Sky Sports 4: "I want to feel that feeling of being in contention. The win in Dubai feels like a long time ago.
"It will be nice to get myself into the hunt going into the weekend."
Source: PA-WIRE
