With the delayed Cognizant Classic finally wrapped up (congrats to Austin Eckroat for his maiden PGA Tour success), attention now shifts to Bay Hill, Florida. A glittering array of golfing stars head to the Sunshine State this week for the fourth ‘Signature Event’ of 2024, the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
With a purse of $20 million up for grabs ($3.6m to the winner), it is certainly one of the jewels in the PGA Tour schedule. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Victor Hovland currently head the betting for this week’s event.
Embed from Getty ImagesLong & Illustrious Bay Hill History
The ‘Arnold Palmer’ has been known under various guises over the years, but the Bay Hill Club and Lodge has remained a constant host venue since 1979. The tournament has continued to grow in stature. For the past ten years, the winners have been granted a three-year Tour exemption.
The top-3 finishers also gain an automatic pass into The Open Championship. It’s one of only five invitational tournaments that are staged throughout the year on the PGA Tour. A field of 69 are teeing it up this time. Golfing legend, Arnold Palmer, sadly passed away in 2016, and since 2017 the winner has received a red cardigan in honour of ‘The King’.
If previous years are anything to go by, we are set for a thrilling nail-biting finish on Sunday. Each of the last eleven editions have been won by 3 shots or less (8 of those by just a single shot). Amazingly though, there has not been a Playoff required since 1999, when Tim Herron pipped Tom Lehman to the crown.
Embed from Getty ImagesTiger’s Sunshine State Stranglehold
Kurt Kitayama returns to defend his ‘Arnold Palmer’ crown. The California swinger claimed his first ever PGA Tour win at Bay Hill twelve months ago. He failed to use the victory as a springboard to further success though.
Missing the cut in his next four tournament starts and only registered two top-10 finishes since donning the red cardigan. Matt Every was the last player to go back-to-back in 2015 and Tiger Woods would do it on numerous occasions before that.
Tiger first began pocketing trophies at the famous Florida event in 2000 and once he started winning, he could not stop. He was victorious again in 2001 and 2002 and then roared to a sensational 11-shot success when winning for a fourth straight year in 2003. In doing so, he joined an elite group of players who won a PGA Tour tournament four years on the trot.
The others being, Byron Nelson, Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen and Tom Morris Jr. Tiger would reign supreme at Bay Hill another four times, going back-to-back in 2008-2009 and 2012-2013. An astonishing tally of 8 titles in total. He would only ever achieve that tally of wins at one other tournament, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat Awaits at Bay Hill in 2024?
Scottie Scheffler is the bookies’ favourite to claim a second Arnold Palmer Invitational crown following his win two years ago. The 2022 Masters champion has shown his liking for the Bay Hill course. His previous starts resulting in finishes of 15th (2020), 1st (2022) and 4th (2023).
He uses it as a good prep too for his spring assaults at the Players Championship & The Masters. He became the first player since Tiger in 2002, to land both the Bay Hill & Augusta crowns in the same year, in 2022.
The Texan resident has been in fine form of late too, with seven top-10 finishes from his last eight starts. Though he is yet to taste success in 2024, his last win coming at the Hero World Challenge in December. His confidence with the putter has been questioned recently as well.
Rory McIlroy is a close second on the bookies’ boards and is another former Bay Hill winner. He lifted the trophy in 2018 when beating LIV defector, Bryson DeChambeau, by 3 shots. Like Scheffler, the Holywood star likes it around the Florida course.
Four top-5 finishes in his previous seven appearances is testament to that. A slight worry for backers is his current 2024 form. Rory remains in Florida following his 21st place finish on Monday at the Cognizant Classic. That followed last month’s 24th at The Genesis & a 66th at the AT&T Pebble Beach.
Will Spieth Believers Be Beaming in Florida?
Jordan Spieth may be one to keep an eye on at Bay Hill this week. He’s tended to miss the event, but has finished 4th on two of his three starts there (2021 & 2023). The 3-time Major champion will have fire in his belly following his disqualification at last month’s Genesis. He was going well at the time to boot and has posted 6th place (Phoenix Open) and 3rd place (The Sentry) 2024 results. Could he be in the reckoning for his first PGA Tour crown in almost two years?
The action gets underway this Thursday, Live on Sky Sports Golf from 12:30 (GMT)
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Image Credit: Deposit Photos
