After the rain beat down for 3 hours, Sunday's final day of play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill had to be pushed to Monday. When the rain delay decision was made, Ernie Els was two shots ahead and will start play on Monday with that advantage. Els has won at Bay Hill one time before, in 1998, during similar bad weather conditions but with no full-day delay.

Els was a full five shots out in front at one point during the day's play, but after a shot into a water hazard and another into a sand trap, he lowered his advantage considerably.  That's he was ahead by five and now still leads by two going into Monday's play is still something the player is taking as a good sign that this could be his second victory in a row after a drought of 2 years. That drought ended last weekend when Els won at Doral by four strokes. Just a week after his comeback win, to be ahead again could mean that Els is back on top of his game.

Els said to the press that he wasn't at ease with himself, and was disappointed. He went on to say that he had a lot of work to do, and had to play the best four holes he could on Monday. He'd gone through 14 holes and had an 11-under par when the rain started. After three hours, officials called it. The player in second place at the end of play on Sunday was Kevin Na, who was on the green at hole 15. He was 9-under, and about to make a putt for birdie that was 80 feet from the flag.

Na said that he had been playing well and that he thought Els was struggling. He also felt that the break was probably good for Els, but didn't say how it might affect him one way or the other, only that he needed some birdies to catch up.

Other players were at different points on the course; Retief Goosen had gone through #17 and sat at 8-under. Chris Couch and Ben Curtis were also at 8-under and at the 14th. Couch was about to make a par putt on the 14th hole from a distance of 15 feet.  The three men were tied in 3rd place. Below them, D.J. Trahan and J.P.Hayes were each at 70 with a 6-under when they finished on Sunday, and top player Phil Mickelson was once again not a threat during a PGA tournament with a 77 at the finish.

Els might be more pleased with his play since he's two ahead, but after a double-bogey on the 13th and a bogey on the 14th, he narrowed the margin and simply made it a little harder to hang on to the top spot. Els' comeback win last week was unexpected by most spectators, and a win this time would not only cement his comeback, but make him the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice in a row in Florida. Woods did it in 2001.

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Arnold Palmer, bad weather, ben curtis, birdie, birdies, chris couch, d j trahan, delay decision, doral, drought, ernie els, five shots, four holes, j p hayes, rain delay, retief goosen, sand trap, two shots, water hazard, weather conditions