2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational: The Complete Bay Hill Guide
By Matt Hupfer
The PGA Tour returns this week to Bay Hill Club and Lodge for the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Congrats to anyone who had Sepp Straka last week. Unfortunately for Shane Lowry, Mother Nature must have been one of those holding a Straka ticket. You could’ve given me 125 picks and I might not have chosen Straka to win. The beauty of golf is that longshots like Straka, who was +10000 pre-tournament, hit frequently.
Anyways, enough about the Honda, the Florida swing continues. This week the tour heads to Arnie’s house in Bay Hill, Florida for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The field is a little smaller and stronger than last week, but par is likely to be a good score once again this week. Lee Westwood held a one-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau entering the final round last year. Bryson shot a final round 71, which tied for the lowest round of the day, to win the tournament by one shot over Lee.
Here’s a look at the winners, their score, and the cutline over the last five years.
2021: Bryson DeChambeau -11; Cut +2
2020: Tyrell Hatton -4; Cut +3
2019: Francesco Molinari -12; Cut +1
2018: Rory McIlroy -18; Cut +1
2017: Marc Leishman -11; Cut +3
The Field At The 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational
With the Players Championship on deck, the field isn’t the strongest but it’s much better than The Honda Classic produced. The second invitational of 2022 has four of the top six in the OWGR teeing it up this week.
World #1 Jon Rahm is playing for the first time since announcing he’s expecting his second child. Viktor Hovland (4), Rory McIlroy (5), Scottie Scheffler (6), and Hideki Matsuyama (10) are the other top 10 players playing this week.
Former champions playing this week include Martin Laird (2011), Jason Day (2016), Marc Leishman (2017), Rory McIlroy (2018), and Tyrrell Hatton (2020). Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau was in the field but announced on Twitter Monday that he was pulling out and hopes to play in the Players next week.