PGA Tour Picks: Arnold Palmer Invitational

By Tom LaMarre

The Arnold Palmer Invitational was in the news last week when Tiger Woods announced through his agent that he will not play this week in the tournament he has won a record eight times because of stiffness in his surgically repaired back.

However, top-ranked Rory McIlroy, defending champion Francisco Molinari, third-ranked Brooks Koepka, seventh-ranked Adam Scott, ninth-ranked Patrick Reed, 10th-ranked Tommy Fleetwood and other former API champions Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Marc Leishman, Vijay Singh, Robert Gamez and Matt Every will be playing at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Fla.

Others in the field from high in the World Golf Rankings include No. 12 Xander Schauffele, No. 13 Justin Rose, No. 14 Bryson DeChambeau, No. 15 Tony Finau, No. 19 Hideki Matsuyama, No. 24 Matthew Fitzpatrick, No. 25 Sungjae Im, No. 27 Rickie Fowler and No. 28 Lee Westwood.

Leishman, who won the tournament in 2017, has been named one of three ambassadors for this year’s tournament, which honors the legacy of Palmer, perhaps the most popular player in PGA Tour history who passed away in 2016.

The other two ambassadors are Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and singer/songwriter Darius Rucker.

“It is truly an honor to serve in this role during a week that meant so much to us all,” said Leishman, who claimed his fifth PGA Tour victory last month in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

“As a winner of this prestigious event, I’m so thankful that Mr. Palmer touched the lives of me and my family. His outstanding character, the way he treated others and the way he grew the game of golf are qualities I’ve always admired about him. He was a true champion in every sense of the word.”

Leishman was singled out because he and his wife Audrey founded the Begin Again Foundation in 2016 after Audrey survived a life-threatening bout with sepsis in the year before. The foundation’s mission is to support families that are battling medical and life challenges.

In 2018, the couple helped open the first-on-tour Family Care Suite at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

McIlroy, the favorite virtually ever time he tees it up these days, surprisingly didn’t play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational until 2015 but hasn’t missed it since, and actually apologized to “The King” for not showing up at Bay Hill earlier than he did.

And Rory’s wondering why himself.

After tying for 11th in his API debut, he has tied for 27th, tied for fourth, won it by three strokes with a closing 64 in 2018 and tied for sixth last year in his title defense.

“Once I played (at Bay Hill) I sort of felt to myself, why haven’t I played here sooner,” said McIlroy, who won four times on the PGA Tour last year and claimed the FedEx Cup for the second time.

“Arnold would write me all these letters after wins and hoping to see you at Bay Hill next year and I could never make it for various reasons, and it was nice to finally be here and play and get to spend some time with him, have dinner with him. … I sort of said that year that I would make a real effort to try and be back here every year. Now that I’m a past champion of this event, it obviously means a little bit more to me (to do it) again.”

Perhaps it will happen this week.

BEST BETS

1. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland – The top-ranked player in the world and defending FedEx Cup champion has finished no worse than a tie for fifth in his last six world-wide events since last October, including a victory in the WGC-HSBC Champions. McIlroy won the API in 2018, tied for sixth in his title defense and also tied for fourth in 2017.
2. Patrick Reed, United States – Coming off his victory in the WGC-Mexico, Reed has six top-10 finishes on both major tours since November and leads the Euro Tour’s Race to Dubai, while sitting at sixth in the FedEx Cup standings. He is making his fifth start in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and his best result was a tie for seventh two years ago.
3. Adam Scott, Australia – Claimed his first victory since the 2016 WGC-Cadillac Championship in the Australian PGA in December before winning again in his next start in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera, and then rebounding from an opening 74 to tie for 26th in WGC-Mexico. Best result at Bay Hill was third in 2014 after opening with a 62.
4. Tommy Fleetwood, England – Couldn’t hold the final-round lead in the Honda last week and finished third to go with four runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour, where it seems his first victory might come soon. No. 10 in the world, Fleetwood tied for third at Bay Hill last year despite a 76 in round three, and also tied for 10th three years ago.
5. Marc Leishman, Australia – Captured his fifth PGA Tour victory at the end of January in the Farmers Insurance Open at Toreey Pines and was close at the start of the 2019-20 season before finishing solo third in the Safeway Open. Leishman captured the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2017 and wound up in a tie for seventh in his title defense.
6. Byeong Hun An, South Korea – Perhaps lost a bit in the shadow of countryman Sungjae Im, An’s tie for fourth last week in the Honda Classic was his fifth top-10 result of the season, including solo third in the Sanderson Farms. He has yet to win on the PGA Tour, but lost out in playoffs in 2016 and 2018. Tied for 10th at Bay Hill last year.
7. Bryson DeChambeau, United States – His runner-up finish behind Patrick Reed in the WGC-Mexico Championship was DeChambeau’s third top-five finish in his last four starts on the PGA Tour. He makes his fourth start in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and his best finish was second behind Rory McIlroy in 2018, when he held the 36-hole lead.
8. Jason Day, Australia – After winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational four years ago and posting four straight finishes in the top 25, Day was forced to withdraw last year because of a back injury. After winning the Japan Skins Game in November, he posted three straight top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour, including solo fourth at Pebble Beach.
9. Hideki Matsuyama, Japan – Although he hasn’t won since the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, his tie for sixth in the WGC-Mexico after a tie for fifth in the Genesis Invitational gave him nine finishes 16th or better in his last 10 world-wide starts. Matsuyama’s best result in the Arnold Palmer Invitational was a tie for sixth in 2016.
10. Sungjae Im, South Korea – After being in the title chase so often, Im claimed his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday in the Honda Classic, following 10 finishes in the top 10 and 22 in the top 25. One of those came last year in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, in which he posted a tie for third on his way to becoming the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH: Brooks Koepka, United States; Xander Schauffele, United States; Henrik Stenson, Sweden; Justin Rose, England; Lee Westwood, England; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; Abraham Ancer, Mexico; Tyrrell Hatton, England; Tony Finau, United States; Charl Schwartzel, South Africa.

SLEEPERS

1. Sebastian Munoz, Colombia – Winner of Sanderson Farms early in season, got back on track with T-14 in WGC-Mexico. Ranks eighth in FedEx standings with six top-25s.
2. Maverick McNealy, United States – T-11 last week in Honda, his fourth straight finish of 27th or better, including a T-5 at Pebble. T-46 at Bay Hill last year as amateur.
3. Carlos Ortiz, Mexico – Finished T-16 in WGC debut two weeks ago in Mexico after posting three top-10s this season. Finished T-21 at Bay Hill in 2015 and T-29 last year.
4. Wyndham Clark, United States – His T-11 last week in the Honda was third straight top-20 and his fourth top-25 of the season, including a T-8 in CJ Cup at Nine Bridges.
5. Tom Hoge, United States – Three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season place him 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings. Finished T-26 his debut at Bay Hill last season.

For first-round tee times, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html