Arnold Palmer Invitational Preview
Scottie Scheffler returns to defend his title once again, this time at Bay Hill Golf Course.
The second stop on the Florida swing for the PGA Tour is at Arnie’s place, Bay Hill Golf Club in Florida. The Arnold Palmer Invitational will be playing as a warm up ahead of the Player’s Championship next week for the top tier players, and as a last chance to qualify for some of the field. The PGA Tour designated the Arnold Palmer as an Elevated event for the 2023 season with a purse of $20 million. Although Tiger Woods will not be in the field this week, his presence will be felt, as he has won this tournament 8 times in his career. This tournament is always a must watch, as it seems every year the eventual winner is having to make a huge putt on number 18 on Sunday to be presented with the legendary red cardigan. The field and course set up for the week should play another tough test for these golfers. Bay Hill was ranked 4th toughest course last year and it has the potential to be more difficult this year.
Field:
The Enhanced Event status of the Arnold Palmer Invitational has brought out the best talent the PGA Tour has to offer this weekend. 44 of the top 50 players in the World Golf Rankings will be in the field, the top 30 FedEx points leaders, as well as all 13 winners so far this PGA season. The top of the field will battle it out again this week for the number 1 golfer in the world title. John Rahm currently holds the spot with his win at the Genesis Invitational, taking over the 1-week reign of reigning Arnold Palmer champion Scottie Scheffler, who had taken the spot from Rory McIlroy. Watching these three guys getting tested this week will be glorious. The rest of the field is also filled with top notch golfers that have been playing really well, including Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Jason Day on his comeback season.
The Course:
Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a Dick Wilson designed par 72 at 7,381 yards of perfected tees to fairways and ending with rarely undulated greens nestled in Central Florida. The event’s namesake Arnold Palmer purchased the property in 1974 and the club has been hosting his event since 1979. The course has been ranked as one of the toughest tests on the PGA Tour for years and last year it was ranked the 4th toughest, only behind Augusta, Southern Hills and US Open set up at The Country Club. There have been additional changes to the course to ramp up the difficulty level even more this year, the roughs have been mowed toward the tee boxes, making the errant tee balls more likely to nestle deep into the roughs and making swinging through the thick rough against the grain a challenge. Along with the course conditions, the field will be battling some gusty winds on Friday afternoon.
Predictions:
Reviewing the field and tee times, which will make a difference this week, here are my Top 5 golfers for the weekend: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Gary Woodland, Billy Horschel and Xander Schauffele.
Computer picks:
We have a DDSN Golf Algorithm that attempts to calculate the Top 25 finish of the majority of PGA tournaments that we will see this season. Use this Top 25 to help guide you through any daily fantasy contests, tournament bets, pools with friends or any type of wagering possible. We are confident in the DDSN Golf Algorithm that has been developed for the past 5 years and now being showcased. We will keep track of the correct % of the Top 25. Any specific questions regarding wagers? Leave a comment! Enjoy.
See previous articles for past results of the Phoenix Open & Genesis Invitational.
Arnold Palmer Invitational Projected Top 25:
Keith Mitchell
Scottie Scheffler
Matt Fitzpatrick
Will Zalatoris
Chris Kirk
Tyrrell Hatton
Corey Conners
Jon Rahm
Max Homa
Sungjae Im
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Tommy Fleetwood
Billy Horschel
Viktor Hovland
Collin Morikawa
Keegan Bradley
Hideki Matsuyama
Jason Day
Cameron Young
Rory McIlroy
Tom Hoge
Byeong Hun An
Xander Schauffele
Charley Hoffman
Russ Henley