The PGA Tour remains in Florida this week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. A field of 120 players will tackle Bay Hill Club & Lodge, with the winner receiving a commemorative red sweater the likes of which the tournament’s namesake often wore.
Be sure to join the all-new Golf Channel Fantasy Challenge - including a new One & Done game offering - to compete for prizes and form your own leagues, and log on to www.playfantasygolf.com to submit your picks for this week’s event.
Marc Leishman won this event last year by one shot over Charley Hoffman and Kevin Kisner. Here are 10 names to watch in Orlando:
1. Jason Day: Day has enjoyed a nice break since his runner-up finish at Pebble Beach, which itself was preceded by a playoff victory at Torrey Pines. The Aussie won this event in 2016, the highlight of three straight top-25 results at Bay Hill, and he’s now heading into the Masters with some of the best form he’s had since relinquishing the No. 1 world ranking over a year ago.
2. Justin Rose: The Englishman couldn’t mount a rally Sunday in Tampa despite a spot in the final pairing, but a fifth-place result was still his second top-10 in his last three starts. Rose remains his reliable self these days, and his Bay Hill record includes top-15 finishes in five of his last six trips.
3. Tiger Woods: It’s officially time to put Woods back on one of these rankings. A T-2 finish at Valspar execeeded every expectation, and now he makes his return to Bay Hill for the first time since winning in 2013. Four of his last five trips to Orlando have ended in victory, and he’s currently playing with plenty of momentum - even though the course has undergone changes since his last visit.
4. Tommy Fleetwood: The Englishman continues to dazzle this year, picking up right where he left off last season with his Race to Dubai title. Already with a victory under his belt, Fleetwood finished fourth at Honda and T-14 in Mexico. Last year he tied for 10th in his first trip to this event.
5. Rickie Fowler: Fowler returns to action as one of the event’s headliners, and his T-12 finish last year was his best result at Bay Hill since he finished third behind Woods back in 2013. Fowler’s last two starts didn’t produce the desired results, but he tied for 11th last month in Phoenix when he was in the mix for all four rounds.
6. Henrik Stenson: Stenson missed the cut in surprising fashion last week, and he made an early exit from Bay Hill last year as well. But prior to that the Orlando resident has felt very much at home at this event, with four straight top-10 finishes from 2013-16 highlighted by a runner-up in 2015.
7. Alex Noren: Noren nearly earned his first PGA Tour win at Torrey Pines, then was again edged out at PGA National. The Swede has put together an impressive start to the new year, with five straight finishes of T-21 or better, and seems likely to improve on last year’s T-49 finish in his Bay Hill debut.
8. Tyrrell Hatton: Were it not for a poorly-placed spike mark on the final green, Hatton might have joined the playoff in Mexico that featured Phil Mickelson and Justin Thomas. Instead his T-3 finish was his third top-15 result in four starts this year, and the Englishman returns to a course where he finished fourth last year in his tournament debut.
9. Adam Scott: After disappearing for the better part of a year, the veteran is finally starting to come around. Scott flashed some form during a T-13 finish at Honda, then turned heads with a third-round 65 en route to a T-16 finish last week in Tampa. He has finished T-12 or better in two of his last three trips to Bay Hill, including 2014 when he coughed up a seven-shot lead over the weekend.
10. Rory McIlroy: Time is running out for McIlroy to find his footing before rolling down Magnolia Lane. He tied for fourth at this event a year ago, his third straight finish of T-27 or better at Bay Hill. Although his form has not translated from the Middle East to the U.S. this year, it likely won’t take much to get him back on track.