The best golfers in the world will make their way to Orlando, Florida and the Bay Hill Club & Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. The total purse for this year’s tournament is up to $8.7 million while the winner will also be awarded a three-year exemption on the PGA Tour. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson will not compete in this year’s event but there will be a star studded field led by Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Hideki Matsuyama.
Event Details
Event: Arnold Palmer Invitational
Category: PGA
Date: March 16-19
Location: Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida
This year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational will be an emotional tournament as it marks the first edition of the event since the passing of “The King” last September. An exciting four rounds would be a fitting tribute to Arnold Palmer with some of the world’s finest players set to put on a show.
Past Five Winners
2016: Jason Day -17
2015: Matt Every -19
2014: Matt Every -13
2013: Tiger Woods -13
2012: Tiger Woods -13
What To Know About The Course
Putting, Scrambling and success on the par-five holes will all be required to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week. Jason Day averaged just 25 putts per round when he won it a year ago and he ranked first for Strokes Gained Around-The-Green. Par-five performance has been a big part of the success of past winners, along with being able to handle the Bermuda Greens and the strong winds that seem to be a constant at Bay Hill. With the exception of Day here last year, every winner since 2009 has ranked first in birdies made so consistency will once again be very important.
The Field
With Johnson out the sports betting favorite for this week’s event is McIlroy, who is listed at +700 odds to win outright. Meanwhile, Henrik Stenson is right there behind McIlroy at +800 odds, followed by Matsuyama and Day at +1400 and then Fowler at +1600 odds. Justin Rose, Thomas Pieters and Brandt Snedeker are all expected to be in the mix as well. Tiger Woods announced last week that he would not compete in this year’s tournament. Matt Every, who won this tournament in back-to-back years in 2014 and 2015, is listed as a significant long shot once again at +30000 odds.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Zach Johnson over Charl Schwartzel
A number of top golfers have had consistent success at this course over the years and we are hoping for that trend to continue with Johnson as our smart pick over Schwartzel in a good matchup to bet. Johnson has registered six top-11 finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and he enters this tournament in decent form with the exception of his poor performance in Mexico. Johnson might not win this tournament but he should be in the mix of contenders and it won’t surprise anyone if he finishes in the top-10 this week.
Top-Five Pick: Jason Day
While McIlroy and Stenson are attractive picks, Day might be the best value of the group after he won here a year ago. Day was only the fourth clear wire-to-wire winner in the tournament’s history in 2016 and he was the first to achieve that feat since Fred Couple in 1992. Tiger and Every both repeated here in consecutive years so there is precedent to expect a repeat winner at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week.
Arnold Palmer Invitational Tee Times
1st tee
12:20 p.m. – Lucas Glover, David Hearn, Ollie Schniederjans (7:35 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
12:32 p.m. – Louis Oosthuizen, Greg Owen, Byeong Hun An (7:47 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
12:44 p.m. – Russell Henley, Kyle Reifers, Wesley Bryan (7:59 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
12:56 p.m. – Adam Hadwin, Rickie Fowler, Graeme McDowell (8:11 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:08 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Brandt Snedeker, Sam Saunders (8:23 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:20 p.m. – Brian Stuard, Chris Kirk, Paul Casey (8:35 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:32 p.m. – Aaron Baddeley, Retief Goosen, Alex Noren (8:47 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:44 p.m. – William McGirt, James Hahn, Branden Grace (8:59 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
1:56 p.m. – Boo Weekley, Derek Fathauer, Thomas Pieters (9:11 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
2:08 p.m. – J.J. Spaun, Grayson Murray, Curtis Luck (9:23 a.m., 10th tee Friday)
10th tee
12:20 p.m. – Kevin Na, Chez Reavie, Jason Kokrak (7:35 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
12:32 p.m. – Brian Harman, Martin Laird, John Huh (7:47 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
12:44 p.m. – Trevor Immelman, Morgan Hoffmann, Cameron Smith (7:59 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
12:56 p.m. – Cody Gribble, Keegan Bradley, Charles Howell (8:11 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:08 p.m. – Billy Hurley III, Jim Herman, Ernie Els (8:23 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:20 p.m. – Greg Chalmers, Charley Hoffman, Matt Every (8:35 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:32 p.m. – Pat Perez, Rod Pampling, David Lingmerth (8:47 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:44 p.m. – Camilo Villegas, Harold Varner III, Matthew Fitzpatrick (8:59 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
1:56 p.m. – Bud Cauley, Jamie Lovemark, Luke List (9:11 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
2:08 p.m. – Kelly Kraft, Rob Oppenheim, Ryan Ruffels (9:23 a.m., 1st tee Friday)
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