2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill

Come one and come all...to step all over fairways I'll finally be back to playing on again next week.

Field: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard: FieldKoepka's last minute commitment after shooting a cool +8 at 'home' seals the deal on a pretty strong field.

The course will be playing tough...same gratuitous amount of water and expected cold/wind as the Honda Classic but with added 6" rye grass rough all around.

Will be interesting to see who comes out on top this year.

I'm not sure a guy who shot +8 last week strengthens the field.

Yeah, well, #3 OWGR still...as far as stats/SOF are concerned, anyway.

Yeah, I know. I was being facetious.

This week could be totally different. I'm kinda pulling for Fleetwood after that rough end to his attempt yesterday.

Love this event!

I know.

And same, I really want Tommy to pull a W and at Bay Hill would be fantastic. He's good friends with a neighbor of mine and years ago I had no idea who he was when he was in town

If Brandon Matthews name seems familiar, here's his story from last year.

After playoff loss, Brandon Matthews embraces fan who yelled in his backstroke

That act got him a sponsor's exemption this week. And here's an article about his WRX style play.

How a PGA Tour dreamer's act of kindness has given him an unexpected opportunity at Bay Hill - Golf Digest

how much of an inconvenience is a pga tournament to a private course? ... esp in florida during the winter, when you want to play it the most ...

Field is projected to give us first place points of 66.

The 2019 split was 545/64 so we are up a little at the moment.

Brooks could move back to #1 in the world with a win.

Patrick Reed can at long last move into the Top 5 with a win.

and the host emeritus

I personally don't mind. I'm of the opinion that hosting a PGA tournament is pretty prestigious and a rare opportunity for a course to do, especially in a climate of 'golf declining' and private clubs struggling. And it says something positive that separates it from others; about the course, whether it be history, difficulty, or conditioning.

With that said, there are plenty of members who could do without it. We're lucky enough to have only 2 weeks of suspended play prior to. I've heard that other private courses can suspend play up to 4-8 weeks prior to a tournament - which would suck.

The recovery isnt bad, either. The 'walking trails' that people create by treading all over seem to fade away and re-grow within a few weeks and all returns to normal as the course transitions into the Spring/Summer.

Where it hurts the most is my handicap. Playing the course the last few weeks has been a score card killer lol

one of my favorite non-major tournaments throughout the year. Hope we have some great drama unfold on 18 come sunday!

Rory is a clear favourite in the betting markets.

31 of the the top 50 and 10 of the top 20 in OWGR are in the field:

1 Rory McIlroy

3 Brooks Koepka

7 Adam Scott

9 Patrick Reed

10 Tommy Fleetwood

12 Xander Schauffele

13 Justin Rose

14 Bryson DeChambeau

15 Tony Finau

19 Hideki Matsuyama

Would love to see Koepka play well... it's not a major so it's a toss up

Great stuff.

But this made me laugh: "Philadelphia humble"

That's hilarious.

Rosterhttps://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/arnold-palmer-invitational-presented-by-mastercard/field.html

Odds

R McIlroy 5/1

T Fleetwood 14/1

H Matsuyama 20/1

B DeChambeau 20/1

X Schauffele 25/1

A Scott 25/1

P Reed 25/1

S Im 25/1

B Koepka 30/1

R Fowler 30/1

J Day 30/1

T Finau 30/1

J Rose 40/1

H Stenson 40/1

C Morikawa 40/1

Winning Score prop: 276.5 (Par=288)

Finau will end his under achieving run and win this week end.

FEATURED GROUPS

Sungjae Im, Marc Leishman, Rickie Fowler

Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari

Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed

Adam Scott, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka

Scott has gone well at Bay Hill before, he really should have won it a few years ago. If he can turn up in similar form to a couple of weeks ago at Riv then I think that he should be one to beat that is for sure.

See tournament thread.

Already made a thread: https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/1816164/2020-arnold-palmer-invitational-at-bay-hill#latest

I think Rory has it this week

I second this. Won this tournament a couple years ago and I dont think hes finished outside top 5 in the last 5 tournaments (going off memory so I could be wrong). Guys playing great golf and will eventually put it together for all 4 rounds.

Fairways off the tee and GIR will be the name of the game.

Someone like Webb who is not a bomber but accurate could take it.

Going to veer off the regular path when I go this week. Not going to be following any of the top guys this year but I'm going to try and get in a few holes with some of the younger "up-and-comers". Cameron Champ, Wolff, Morikawa (Believe he's playing) and some others. Lots of guys have little to no gallery walking with them and you can get really up front to see their prowess. Going to be exciting to see how these younger players build a round at Bay Hill!

Keeping Korean fever. Going with B An. I think he is local.

This guy already won.

FEATURED GROUPSSungjae Im, Marc Leishman, Rickie Fowler

Thursday: 12:44 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee); Friday: 7:54 a.m. ET (No. 10 tee)Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari

Thursday: 7:54 a.m. ET (No. 10 tee); Friday: 12:44 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee)Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed

Thursday: 12:56 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee); Friday: 8:06 a.m. ET (No. 10 tee)Adam Scott, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka

Thursday: 8:06 a.m. ET (No. 10 tee); Friday: 12:56 p.m. ET (No. 1 tee)

Scott could end up playing himself if Day and Koepka pick up their usual injuries.