Its all about finding the fairway however you can to avoid hazards around the green and avoid approaching from the long Bermuda rough. He'll have a chance to get things right at Riviera, where he tied for second, 2 strokes behind Joaquin Niemann, last season. The Englishman has played very well in his first two starts in 2022, tying for sixth at Pebble Beach and tying for 10th at TPC Scottsdale. 1 in the world after tying for 10th at TPC Scottsdale, his fourth top-15 in as many PGA Tour starts in 2022. With primary rough at least 3 inches high, distance and accuracy off the tee plays up all week. 1. Bet with your head, not over it. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy entered the year ranked No. Only 10 players broke par for 72 holes. Patrick Cantlay : Cantlay quickly brushed off his surprising struggles in Phoenix with a 3rd at Riviera. He briefly challenged Rahm on Sunday, and he was playing some of the best golf in the world to end his 2022. 10. Previous rank: 13 In five starts, Burns has made a respectable four cuts, but last years T-9th (72-69-75-71) was his first top-10 at Bay Hill. Over his past six starts, Hoge finished tied for fourth, missed cut, solo second, missed cut, first and a tie for 14th. The short game has been way off, but the ball striking continues to be there. Greenside seats, you've been warned. After a weekend of beer showers, aces and shirtless celebrations at the biggest party of the season at the WM Phoenix Open, the PGA Tour returns to normalcy with this week's Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club. Still, given his track record at Bay Hill and doses of phenomenal form a fortnight ago at Riviera, youll excuse any competitor for not missing him on the leaderboard this week. Rahm still has the lead in the FedEx Cup points race. 15 in the second round, which knocked him out for the weekend. Jon Rahm is a +650 favorite to triumph at Bay Hill. Hes found success on the Australasian Tour, Asian Tour, DP World Tour, etc. Trusting that greens will be adjusted accordingly, its a plan that likely will extend into Saturdays third round for which the elements will mimic the opener, albeit with a slight risk of inclement weather. Copyright 2023 PGA TOUR, Inc. All rights reserved. Rickie Fowler : You cant look past Fowlers recent iron play, as the former top 5 player has gained more than 15 strokes on approach in his last three starts. In what appears to be the most star-studded event hosted at Riviera Country Club since the 1995 PGA Championship, only world No. He was just four off the winning pace on a crowded, talented . Ranks 10th in the model and 11th in SG: APP. He has 10 top-10s in 14 starts there, including a victory in 2020. Like most courses they visit in the Sunshine State, it will present plenty of water hazards throughout, including the famous par-5 sixth hole that features a bold drive over however much water the player thinks he can cut off. Spieth followed up his near-miss at Pebble Beach with a rather ordinary start at TPC Scottsdale, a tie for 60th at even par. 9. 13. The former Pepperdine star did everything he could in trying to become only the sixth player in the last 15 seasons to win a tournament with a sponsor exemption. 3 will tee it up at a place hes won at and has finished worse than 13th just once in eight tries. Will Zalatoris : It was good to see him play well at Riviera with a 4th place finish and nearly 8 strokes gained with his ball striking. When looking at players who can perform at difficult courses, Zalatoris name has to be in the conversation. It should also be noted that Zalatoris was in the top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2021. 1, a loaded LPGA field and more to watch in golf this week, Here's everything you missed this week in professional golf, Jin Young Ko up by 2 in Singapore title defense, Quigley fires 65 for early lead in PGA Champions, Kitayama handles windy Bay Hill as Rahm falters, Tiger not part of field for next week's Players, Young stretches lead to 4 in Puerto Rico Open, Rahm stays hot, finishes strong for Bay Hill lead, Rookie Young captures Puerto Rico lead with 63. Its fun to watch the games best have to struggle to make par and be tested on a tough layout. He was 120th in shots gained: approach going into the WM Phoenix Open. Id imagine hes ready to challenge the big names again. Brett White's wife, Natalie, was emotional watching her husband make his TOUR debut @WMPhoenixOpen. McIlroy hasn't played in the U.S. since winning The CJ Cup at Summit. The goal will be to hit shorter irons into challenging targets with invisible forces poised to smack even properly executed strikes out of the sky. The Los Angeles native hasn't finished better than 26th in two starts at the Genesis Invitational. McIlroy (2018) is another former champion of the tournament. He's as hot as they come entering the Honda Classic, having won in Abu Dhabi a month ago (for a European Tour event) then finishing as the runner-up in Phoenix earlier this month. He finished in a tie for third at 15-under. How Arnold Palmers Bay Hill Club & Lodge will present itself, what Mother Nature has planned and more can be found below. 8. When it does, it could make a difference of 10-15 degrees cooler. His dreams of winning ended on Sunday when his tee shot on No. Hovland won the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event that Woods hosted in the Bahamas in December, but he hasn't done anything spectacular in official tournaments so far in 2023. Highest-Owned Golfers. An entertaining run on the west coast headlined the PGA Tour during the January and February months, but now the golfers have headed east with the Masters on the horizon in early April. Hell bank 300 FedExCup points and $684,000 of a record prize fund of $3.8 million. Get exclusive access to more than 3,000 premium articles a year from top writers. Ranks 1st in the model, 3rd in SG: OTT, 3rd in High Winds and 3rd in GIRs Gained. He had six birdies in his first eight holes in the second round before picking up three bogeys on the second nine. Theres usually rain during at least some point in the event and water lurks around many corners. Scheffler had a round of 9-under 62 in the second round in Phoenix, which was his fifth career round of 62 or lower. Arnold Palmer Invitational 2023 odds available at DraftKings Sportsbook . His strength is on approach and, given his roots, also confidence when the wind blows. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. To go forward, we must go back for a moment and tie off a loose end. A string of solid performances at the Corales Puntacana that read 14th (2020), 22nd (2021) and runner-up last year, and a top-12 (2021) at the Bermuda Championship are signs that Smalley has a liking to these tropical locations. Just make sure to click here to create your new DraftKings account today. All five dozen bunkers on the property also are equipped with new drainage and sand. After his runner-up finish at the WM Phoenix Open, Cantlay has finished inside the top five in 21 of his past 24 rounds played. 2 had what felt like a bad week for most of it at Riviera and still finished 12th. 2 in the world, will regain the top spot after becoming the seventh player to repeat as champion of the WM Phoenix Open, an event he claimed last year for his first PGA Tour victory. Previous rank: 6 The injury is hopefully past him now, and we know Zalatoris is at his best in major-like conditions. Nothing has gone terribly wrong for him, and theres a chance Kim will be happy to get back to the south where he first won. Finished 5th here last year. Cameron Smith will not be in the field to defend his title due to leaving for LIV Golf. After pulling out of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (he was the defending champion) because of a back injury, Berger missed the cut at TPC Scottsdale. The Australian took the week off after finishing in a tie for fourth at the Saudi International. Returning participants will be greeted to a course that will be wholly familiar. For a variety of reasons. But his course history of 9th, 10th, 9th and 2nd is still worth looking at. SUNDAY: Payouts and Points, Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle. Kevin Yu and Joseph Bramlett both finished T7 at Pebble and didnt get into the WM as predicted, but only Bramlett is committed to the Honda (as of Monday). Now 291st in the OWGR, the 29-year-old is seeking to rekindle the form that he flashed here last year. It's the third ace of his career. He carded an 8-under 63 in the second round, the lowest round of the tournament, and hit all 18 greens in regulation, which he had done only one other time in 843 official rounds on tour. Bermuda grass is in play as is the case throughout much of the Sunshine State. The defending Genesis Invitational champ is starting to find his form. Former Ryder Cup members Shane Lowry, Alex Noren,. A week after picking up his first PGA Tour victory, in his 203rd career start, at Pebble Beach, Hoge followed it with another top-15 at TPC Scottsdale. Ranks 19th in the model. 15 and 17 annually are among the most challenging as a set on TOUR, a fact due to sustained breezes from a southeasterly direction. Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth and Hideki Matsuyama will be among the notables considered in Golfbet Insider. Its, ahem, treated to one of the hardest par 70s on the PGA TOUR. Morikawa is back from the Middle East and is scheduled to play at Riviera Country Club, which will be his first start on the U.S. mainland since a runner-up at The CJ Cup at Summit in mid-October. Your guess is as good as anyones about when Collin putts well, but when he does, hes generally always in the Top 5. No one is exactly sure why, considering Im likes to play -- a lot. The Honda Classic leads off a month of competitions in the Sunshine State. Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will once again be looking to be World No. Finally, the forecast for this week is predicting very high winds on Friday and Saturday along with consistent winds for the rest of the week. The PGA Tour moves from Phoenix to Los Angeles this week for The Genesis Invitational, a tour mainstay dating back to 1926. Matthew Fitzpatrick : I like to add a few extra players sometimes for big tournaments, and Fitzpatrick is worth noting this week. Scottie Scheffler Hes a Louisianan, but he tends to play his best golf in the southeastern United States. Previous rank: 1 All you have to do is place a bet of at least $5 bet on any pre-game money line, and you wont even need a DraftKings promo code. He was playing incredibly consistent golf before that, and his history at Arnold Palmer is very strong with a pair of 3rd place finishes and nothing worse than 21st in 4 tries. Payne Stewart in 1987 was the only player to go 20-under when he won by three. His current form is absolutely terrible, as hes been dealing with an injury and the irons have been awful. He has two top-15 finishes in his past three starts, including a tie for 14th in Phoenix. Chris Kirk lifted his first trophy since 2015 as he completely a lovely comeback story after dealing with alcoholism and depression. Its officially a designated event in 2023, but you dont need to conceive a visual of the King himself winking, grinning and giving a thumbs-up to approve what we already know, that this tournament is special. He had back-to-back top-five finishes at the Genesis before missing the cut last year. All four Par 3s, all four Par 5s and a few Par 4s will likely require a long iron this week at Bay Hill. 2 ranked player in the world. The 26-year-old finished runner-up in two of the four majors in 2022, finished tied for sixth at the Masters and also recorded top-five performances at Muirfield Village and Torrey Pines. 1 Rory McIlroy leads a WM Phoenix Open field that features 22 of the world's top 25 golfers. Beau Hossler getting the "royal treatment" at the 2022 @WMPhoenixOpen pic.twitter.com/WCcbmi60xU, Before the sun was even up, fans made a mad dash to get a good spot at the 16th Hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Saturday. Too bad we didn't get to see Rickie Fowler in action this past week at the Northern Trust Open. Patrick Cantlay 1. Well see if history repeats itself again, and Scottie is clearly locked in. pic.twitter.com/gpqP1Q1WlN. Previous rank: 3 Cantlay has six straight top-10s dating to his back-to-back victories in the FedEx Cup playoffs at the end of last season. He lost in a playoff to Homa and finished second in the 2021 Genesis Invitational. Jon Rahm There may not be a man in golf Id rather have standing over the ball in high winds. The product of Arizona State University has already won three times this season, including two weeks ago at Riviera, and he has not finished outside the top 10 in any of his seven starts. PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks. The field at Bay Hill is absolutely loaded once again for the PGA Tours new elevated events. His career victory total is second among South Korean golfers; K.J. Lets get down to the top 10 players to get it done at PGA National: Min Woo Lee, 150th Open Championship, St. Andrews, Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports. TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Puerto Rico), Sleepers (API), SUNDAY: Payouts and Points (API), Payouts and Points (Puerto Rico), Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle. So, course management and accepting par as a great score at times will be key. 1 Jon Rahm. 1, a loaded LPGA field and more to watch in golf this week 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Follow your favorite players throughout the 2023 season. Ranks 7th in SG: OTT and 7th in SG: APP. Wind is often a factor at this event and seven water hazards eat up a lot of wayward shots. Bay Hill already is one of if not the hardest par 72 in a non-major in every season last years scoring average of 73.886 easily set the mark among its peers but consider that, in relatively docile conditions a year ago, the opening-round scoring average still was 72.292! Collin Morikawa Rahm will surely be targeted by plenty of golf pundits in their Arnold Palmer Invitational predictions. It was during the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am three weeks ago when the expectation surfaced that top 10s at Pebble wouldnt pay forward for entry into the WM Phoenix Open. Schauffele made more than 89 feet of putts -- on the first five holes Sunday. The 15th edition of the Puerto Rico Open is slated to be contested concurrently with the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard for the second straight year. It didnt matter to him that there were two fewer par 5s at the time, but thats always been a cornerstone weapon for the 82-time PGA TOUR winner. Zalatoris was sidelined due to injury for the latter part of 2022, but he placed in a tie for fourth last month at Riviera, and that clearly shows he is back in business. He has five top-25 finishes in seven tour starts this season, including a tie for third at the Shriners Children's Open and QBE Shootout, an unofficial event. 12. One prize fight after another. So, course management and accepting par as a great score at times will be key. He's coming. Access 4,300-plus hours of live coverage from 35 PGA Tour tournaments each year, including four days of coverage at 28 events with four feeds each day. By signing up here for a new account right now, all new users can lock in their chance at $150 in bonus bets. Notice the amount of green AM tee times. Thats where 2022 PRO champion Ryan Brehm is competing this week. It was the largest 36-hole comeback at the WM Phoenix Open since it moved to TPC Scottsdale in 1987, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. 1 for much of last season, when he won four times, including his first major championship (at the Masters). After tying for 25th in back-to-back starts at the Tournament of Champions and Farmers Insurance Open, he was much better in Phoenix, finishing solo fourth at 13 under. Still, given his track record at Bay Hill and doses of phenomenal form a fortnight ago at Riviera, youll excuse any competitor for not missing him on the leaderboard this week. It started to come together at TPC Scottsdale. Dustin Johnson Finished 3rd and 11th here last two years. Thats enough of an intro. The field gets a primer on Thursday when gusts might touch 20 mph. 12. When asked about being ranked No. One of those was at Bay Hill in 2021, and hes been solid here in three starts. He is scheduled to play in the Genesis Invitational. Jon Rahm : Rahms numbers in the model this week are just absurd, and hes a runaway No. Those only resulted in an 11th, 10th and 20th thanks to other areas failing him, but this is a course he has plenty of experience on and has finished 3rd in the past. You may call them opposite events, but to the 120 in pursuit of a boatload of benefits, Puerto Rico is the island of opportunity. * - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COMs Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday. After a slow start to the season, the former Florida star is beginning to heat up. The Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hillbrings out many of the best players in the world due to its rich history and the new elevated status it holds on the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour's 2021-22 season started way back in September but it kicks into high gear this week with the annual Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua's Plantation course.. "I'm gonna say exactly what 99.99 percent of fans said about players leaving . In years past, I may have skewed driving stats toward Driving Distance on the week, but Ill simply be using SG: Off the Tee. Ranks 17th in the model. Scottie Scheffler became the third straight first-time winner on tour, beating Patrick Cantlay in a sudden-death playoff with a 26-foot putt Sunday at TPC Scottsdale. He flew back to the U.S. to compete in the WM Phoenix Open, and the long travel seemed to catch up with him. As one of three invitationals on Tour, its an invite-only field of 120 players and provides automatic three-year exemption status to the winner of the event instead of the standard two years. Previous rank: Not ranked Bay Hill already is one of if not the hardest par 72 in a non-major in every season last years scoring average of 73.886 easily set the mark among its peers but consider that, in relatively docile conditions a year ago, the opening-round scoring average still was 72.292! Missed fairways will be inevitable, so playing out of the thick rough with short irons instead of long irons is a big advantage. 18. 22. Previous rank: 8 You neednt consider further than the household names among first-time winners such at Tony Finau (2016) and Viktor Hovland (2020) to understand the springboard effect that the Puerto Rico Open can have. It's probably only a matter of time before Burns starts heating up again, after a relatively quiet start to 2023. Both made their way into the PGA Tour Power Rankings, which had quite a few adjustments from a week ago. Harry Hall Until he showcases his talent outside of Las Vegas, hell remain typecast as a no-brainer to give it a proper run at the Shriners. He also took T-21st at last years Open Championship. Xander Schauffele : Schauffele has been a bit lost since he tied the lead in Phoenix on Saturday, as he dropped to 10th there on Sunday and had a strange week at Riviera. @JordanSpieth found out on this unique ruling on No. They turned out to be foreshocks for four months of brilliant form that yielded a return to fully exempt status on the PGA TOUR. The Arnold Palmer Invitational field is absolutely loaded, led by world #1 Jon Rahm. Click here to join DraftKings for a chance to win a $150 bonus on a $5 bet. With tree-lined, narrow fairways on a longer course, elite drivers of the golf ball are at an upper hand at Bay Hill. Matt Fitzpatrick Stream on ESPN+. According to Justin Ray of Twenty First Group, that's the best of any tour player during that span. Since tying for second at the Shriners Children's Open in early October, he tied for 16th at the Tournament of Champions, tied for 26th at the American Express and missed the cut in Phoenix, where he lost in a playoff to Scheffler last season. As of Tuesday, five commits are currently exempt into THE PLAYERS, so the PRO also is an opportunity for Nate Lashley, Max McGreevy, Scott Piercy, Austin Smotherman and Nick Watney to sharpen their tools for the PGA TOURs flagship event. The Australian is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, but there are plenty signs of hope. Finishes of 10th and 38th at Bay Hill with elite ball striking. Of the 23 Player Impact Program winners, the only not to commit is Tiger Woods. Previous rank: Not ranked Who's out: Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Just missed the cut: DeChambeau, Hatton, Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners, Russell Henley, Brian Harman, Abraham Ancer, Louis Oosthuizen, Harris English, Patrick Reed, Webb Simpson, Matthew Wolff, PGA Tour Power Rankings: Time to make a change at the top, A battle for No. "These are the days that we were dreaming about." Won at Bay Hill in 2016 and has finished decently in all three tries since. The former LSU star had been red-hot since the start of the 2021-22 season back in September, but back-to-back missed cuts at the Farmers Insurance Open and WM Phoenix Open have cooled him off considerably. Sure, its been 10 years since Woods last won at Bay Hill, but he collected eight victories here across 14 editions, including the last two of three consecutive when the course routed as a par 70 through 2009. Maybe Bay Hill can sort him out, where he finished 2nd last year and struck it well in four starts. Jason Day : Day now has one finish worse than 21st in his last 10 starts, and hes tallied four Top 10s in that stretch. While hes been a menace at events like the Valspar Championship and Sanderson Farms Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational is one hed like to pick off next. *: Power Rankings (Puerto Rico), Sleepers (API), Payouts and Points (API), Payouts and Points (Puerto Rico), Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. *All stats are from a players last 24 rounds. TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Puerto Rico), Sleepers (API), SUNDAY: Payouts and Points (API), Payouts and Points (Puerto Rico), Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle. FREE Picks Contest For the Arnold Palmer Invitational: Win An Amazon Gift Card Instantly! That elevated status brings a purse of $20 million. It was the last time Honda will host the tournament at PGA National. Collin Morikawa : Morikawa grades out exceptionally in every category this week except putting, and that will be the obvious spot that determines his finish this week. Max Homa : Continued his incredible run in California with a 2nd at Riviera, and its safe to say hes being respected as one of the best in the world at this point. Ranks 1st in SG: Par 5, 2nd in SG: APP and 2nd in the model. He was 3-under after 36 holes and trailed by 9 shots. Schauffele was right in the mix again in Phoenix, even after a run-in with a cactus and losing his regular caddie, Austin Kaiser, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Perks for the winner, a brief breakdown of Grand Reserve Golf Club and more can be found below. Shane Lowry : Im going to make the prediction that Lowry ends his strange poor history of four missed cuts here this week. The Honda Classic, PGA National, Palm Beach Gardens, Hovland was one of the best iron players on tour last season; he was first in approach shots from 200 to 225 yards, second from 125 to 150, and third from 175 to 200. Previous rank: 14 He finished T16. *: Power Rankings (Puerto Rico), Sleepers (API), Payouts and Points (API), Payouts and Points (Puerto Rico), Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. However, giving the benefit of the doubt that, indeed, his game can travel, the third-ranked putter on TOUR deserves attention on a track that, like TPC Summerlin, can capitalize on piling up the scoring opportunities.