3 will tee it up at a place hes won at and has finished worse than 13th just once in eight tries. Last week at PGA National gave us a fun week considering the lack of star power in the field. It's the first time the tour has had three consecutive first-time winners since 2019. 1 once again. That resembled last year when he coasted at Riviera after winning in Phoenix and then added a 2nd victory at Bay Hill. How Arnold Palmers Bay Hill Club & Lodge will present itself, what Mother Nature has planned and more can be found below. 2. Zalatoris didn't play in Phoenix after he was forced to pull out of the AT&T Pebble Pro-Am a week earlier after testing positive for COVID-19. 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. 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. There may be few players happier that the PGA Tour is onto the Florida swing than Sam Burns. When it does, it could make a difference of 10-15 degrees cooler. Xander Schauffele In fact, a field has beaten par in a round just twice since PGA National assumed its role as the host in 2007. Thomas posted his fifth top-20 finish in as many PGA Tour starts this season with a tie for eighth at the WM Phoenix Open. When asked about being ranked No. 15. Viktor Hovland : Hovlands short game continues to let him down as he struggles to get much going since his run at The Open at St. Andrews. Power Rankings: PGA Championship. 18. @StewartCink is already rocking a @KDTrey5 jersey pic.twitter.com/FQLxm4tuo8. Unlike the last two tournaments that exceeded the allotted reservation to make room for all automatically eligible PGA TOUR members both were designated events the cap of 144 at PGA National is the field size as advertised. 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). The Irishman has it going again with a 14th Riviera and 5th at Honda with more excellent ball striking. There are designated events, and then there is the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. The PGA Tour will head north to the east coast of Florida for the PGA Tours biggest event and the largest prize pool for a standard tournament all year. Sundays finale easily will be the best round in the context of scoring conditions, but Bay Hills bite might strengthen even more than usual as the wind will rotate and howl in from the north. There havent been any significant modifications to Grand Reserve, a stock par 72 on the coast east of San Juan. 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. 6. When he competed here last year, it was via Past Champion status and he was 1,030th in the Official World Golf Ranking. The challenge for him will be a poor history so far in high winds. Ranks 3rd in SG: Par 5 and 7th in the model. The four par 3s, including the two that bracket The Bear Trap Nos. Factors at play on the rankings are (in no order): Using the guidelines above to create a statistical model, value can be found in the betting market by highlighting players whose outlook for the tournament may be flying under the radar to the general public. He finished fifth in the Genesis Invitational last season. Daytime highs could hit 90 degrees until the wind shifts. Ultimately, his top-10 exemption wasnt necessary, anyway, as the entire Korn Ferry Tour graduate reshuffle category looped in on merit, so even its reorder at the conclusion of the West Coast Swing had no impact. Of course, he remains indefinitely beholden to when his extended recovery will allow him to play in accordance with a chosen schedule. Its an event dating back to 1972 thats been held at its current venue, PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, since 2007. He had a 1-shot lead at the Sandersons Farms Championship in October and tied for eighth. 1. 10. The qualifications for this exclusive event are pretty simple: win a tournament during the 2021 calendar year, stretching across two seasons (January to December). Thats where 2022 PRO champion Ryan Brehm is competing this week. 15 in the second round, which knocked him out for the weekend. Patrick Cantlay With a win, each also would qualify for the 2024 editions of the API. The strongest that the invisible force will get is approximately 20 mph, but the positive spin, as it were, is that itll be consistent throughout the tournament. He finished tied for third, his first top-20 finish in his past 11 tour starts. It also features world #2 Scottie Scheffler, world #3 Rory McIlroy and world #4 Patrick Cantlay. He missed the cut in his previous two starts at the Genesis Invitational in 2019 and 2020. Copyright 2023 PGA TOUR, Inc. All rights reserved. pic.twitter.com/S4Ax1qYYeQ, Wind's coming HARD left-to-right at 16. He briefly challenged Rahm on Sunday, and he was playing some of the best golf in the world to end his 2022. 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. 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. TPC Southwind boasts 94 bunkers and 10 water hazards, and usually ranks as a top-third difficult course. That means a $10 bet returns $65 of profit if the red-hot Spaniard does in fact win the tournament. Dustin Johnson That means a $10 bet returns $65 of profit if the red-hot Spaniard . By Friday, thatll be the sustained average for the prevailing push from the southwest, while gusts will reach 35 mph. 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. Patrick Cantlay : Cantlay quickly brushed off his surprising struggles in Phoenix with a 3rd at Riviera. 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. When it does, it could make a difference of 10-15 degrees cooler. * - Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COMs Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday. His PGA TOUR Horse for the Course for daily fantasy golf based on course history. Hes found success on the Australasian Tour, Asian Tour, DP World Tour, etc. Tony Finau : I was a little bit surprised to see Finaus extremely strong results in high winds since hes not someone we often hear about when talking about those conditions. 19. Justin Thomas Will likely be excited to get back on Bermuda. The reigning U.S. Open winner has only four PGA Tour starts this season; his best finish was a tie for seventh at the Tournament of Champions. The driver and putter are putting in elite work, while the irons have shown enough life at times to get him near the top of the leaderboard. Rory McIlroy PGATOUR.coms Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous perspectives. Just make sure to click here to create your new DraftKings account today. The Australian is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship, but there are plenty signs of hope. Every eligible Top 50 player in the world is in attendance to battle it out for the $20 million purse. He won the Fortinet Championship in September and then cooled off. This is the fourth designated event of the season. Another bounce back for @XSchauffele pic.twitter.com/pIvn48nDKs, It's official. Ranks 2nd in High Winds, 11th in SG: OTT and 12th in SG: APP. 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. Has only one start at Bay Hill. Kim, from South Korea, is tough to beat when his putter gets hot. Its all about finding the fairway however you can to avoid hazards around the green and avoid approaching from the long Bermuda rough. Ranking Four World Championship Tournaments. During a 12-hole stretch in the second round, Im needed only 14 putts. Bermuda grass is in play as is the case throughout much of the Sunshine State. I feel like I'm way better than that and I've been working harder to try to do that.". He was just four off the winning pace on a crowded, talented leaderboard. Min Woo Lee is making his Honda Classic debut this week on a sponsor exemption. Since winning the Shriners Children's Open in October, he tied for fifth at the Tournament of Champions and for sixth at the American Express. 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. Ranks 2nd in SG: P and 16th in the model. He'll make his debut on tour this year at Riviera. Jason Kokrak Also recorded a T11 at Pebble Beach four weeks ago. 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.. This will be even more pronounced in tomorrow's slate, with winds looking to be brutal as the day progresses. Jon Rahm : Rahms numbers in the model this week are just absurd, and hes a runaway No. Brutally difficult conditions led to Scottie Scheffler persevering to win at 5-under last year. The greens can run fast if conditions allow. He has three top-10s in his past four starts at Riviera, where he has never won. As always, Ill prefer distance, but you can get around here in a variety of ways. It guarantees that someone else will be holding the trophy. All of them are reachable for longer players and allow eagle chances throughout the round. The weather forecast for the week appears to be warm, dry, and windy, so expect the course to play fiery once again. But he missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open after hitting consecutive shots into the water on No. Shane Lowry : Im going to make the prediction that Lowry ends his strange poor history of four missed cuts here this week. His opening 74 was the highest score by anyone inside the top 28. 2 had what felt like a bad week for most of it at Riviera and still finished 12th. 21. 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. Its in a tough spot on the schedule with back-to-back designated events coming right before and another one to immediately follow at next weeks Arnold Palmer Invitational. By signing up here for a new account right now, all new users can lock in their chance at $150 in bonus bets. 16. An unforgettable PGA Tour season reaches its second major championship this week, as the best of the best golfers in the world congregate in the oil capital of the world, better known as Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Southern Hills Country Club hosts the 2022 PGA Championship. Its, ahem, treated to one of the hardest par 70s on the PGA TOUR. The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass has continued to grow in importance and popularity every year, and its safe to say you can throw it in as the unofficial fifth major of the season. Bermuda grass is where he tends to thrive. 12. Spieth followed up his near-miss at Pebble Beach with a rather ordinary start at TPC Scottsdale, a tie for 60th at even par. 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. The Norwegian went into Phoenix as one of the hottest golfers on the planet, having won in three of his past five starts on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. 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 last season, following his victory at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. Here are the latest PGA Tour Power Rankings heading into this week's Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, where you-know-who (Tiger Woods!) Scottie Scheffler 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. 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational picks, odds, Fantasy golf power rankings: PGA Tour predictions and best bets from top golf expert Jim Holliman, who has been rolling with his golf picks this season, offers his PGA Tour golf best bets and top players for the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Did the former world No. Gained 11.4 strokes ball striking in his debut here last year. Over his past six starts, Hoge finished tied for fourth, missed cut, solo second, missed cut, first and a tie for 14th. is making his 2023 debut: Scheffler picked up his fifth victory over the past 365 days, but he hasn't been as consistent as Rahm during the past few months. PGA Tour Power Rankings: 2016 Honda Classic 1. Ranks 1st in SG: Par 5, 2nd in SG: APP and 2nd in the model. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. J.T. Former Ryder Cup members Shane Lowry, Alex Noren,. Scheffler is atop the OWGR for the second time in his career, after spending 30 weeks at No. Yeah, you might want to move those next year. 91 to No. Rory McIlroy : Lets not overreact to a very cold putter from McIlroy in mediocre results at Phoenix and Riviera. He had six birdies in his first eight holes in the second round before picking up three bogeys on the second nine. Scottie Scheffler : The World No. Speaking of top-10s, the LSU alum has a pair of them already in the 2022-23 PGA Tour season at the CJ Cup (T-7th) and WM Phoenix Open (T-6th). If you are looking to back our Arnold Palmer Invitational predictions, be sure to do so at DraftKings Sportsbook.