One of the best non-major events is on the schedule this week, as the PGA Tour heads down to visit the king, playing Bay Hill at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Although Arnold Palmer passed away a few years ago, his memory lives on just as strong. Whether it is the apparel designed to honor him or remembrance of some of the top courses he had a hand in creating, there is still plenty that reminds you of Arnold Palmer everywhere that you look.
This week, it’s his tournament that is being played, and this marks the 14th edition of the event with its current designation of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. We’ve provided plenty of coverage this week in the lead-up to the event, from power rankings to sleepers to what it is going to take to win at Arnie’s Place.
In the lead up to picks for the Arnold Palmer this week, let’s check-in and see how the staff did last week. A handful picked the winner, with Bill, Ben, and Kasey all picking Sung-jae Im. There were a few on their tail with a Fleetwood pick and one more top ten with Gary Woodland.
We will start off this week by looking at the favorite to win, not just in Vegas but also from the group here at Pro Golf Now.
Rory McIlroy
Hans Geevers – I just couldn’t get away from the chalk this week. Rory has an incredible eight top finishes in his last ten events. Additionally, McIlroy won the API in 2018.
Eric Sedransk – Since the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, he’s gone T3-Win-4th-T3-T5-5th worldwide. He also won the API in 2018. It’s a lock.
Richie Randolph – I’ll go with Rory McIlroy this weekend. A quick look at Rory’s stats makes it look like a video game: 1st in Strokes Gained: Total, 3rd in Driving Distance, 1st in Scoring Average, and no worse than a 5th place finish in the five events he’s played this season. McIlroy is a machine, an absolute dominating force that needs to be reckoned with, and he won this event two years ago. It feels reckless to pick anyone else in the field.
Mike Randleman – Here is an excerpt from the weekly power rankings…
"“He won three times on the way to the 2018-19 FedEx Cup title. The 30-year-old is already a winner in 2019-2020 at the WGC-HSBC Champions where he held off Xander Schauffele for the title in China.McIlroy’s been in the mix to win in all five PGA Tour starts this season: T-3 at the Zozo and the Farmers, T-5 at the Genesis and solo fifth in his last appearance at the WGC-Mexico. You can add in a solo fourth late in 2019 at the European Tour’s season finale in Dubai for good measure.”"
Bryson DeChambeau
Kathy Bissell
Chris O’Day – Not only did Bryson not win down at the WGC-Mexico, but he also had to watch Patrick Reed jump in front of him to win the event. Playing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational seems like the sort of place and event that will create one of two Bryson’s. He will either struggle mightily while trying to hard to perform, or come out and dominate the field, contending come Sunday afternoon.
Don’t forget that he finished 2nd here in 2018, so he knows he can play the course well. I’m going with the dominant side, and a Bryson DeChambeau win.
Xander Schauffele
Matt Coles
Sung-jae Im
Bill Felber – I picked Sungjae Im last week and he won. I’m like the guy at the roulette wheel who put it all on 23 red, hit and stood on it. Call me silly but I’m betting on Im to make it two straight.
Patrick Reed
West Valentine – I hate to say it, but Patrick Reed is gonna do it. Ugh. I hope I’m wrong.
Tony Finau
Ben Criswell – Finau is just too good to have only one win on the PGA Tour. He ranks 7th in strokes gained total, but 87th in strokes gained putting meaning even an average putting week will put Finau in the mix to win.
Henrik Stenson
Connor Schmidtke – The Swede is one player who has enjoyed playing at Arnie’s place in recent years. Four Top-5 finishes and a T-17 across the past 6 years shows he is as consistent as they come on a difficult track. Making his first start on U.S soil this year and comes in as somewhat of an underdog.
Lee Westwood
Corey Klatt – Lee Westwood has been playing great as of late and has provided flashes of the Westwood once ranked #1 in the world. Time to get back into the winner’s circle.
Max Homa
Kasey Kuhrts – I will go with Max Homa this week. Max has three top-ten finishes in his last four starts. Although it is a strong field, I believe Max has as good a chance as anyone.
Best of luck to everyone at the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week.