The Arnie Invitational; Who will win this Classic

This is the 60th edition of the revered Arnold Palmer Invitational played at Bay Hill Club

and Lodge in Orlando on a 7,466, Par 72 layout. It will be a test of a champion this week,

and the winner will have to earn it. Bay Hill was the toughest non-major course in 2022 and

2020, and was 6th most difficult last year and 5th in 2021. In 2024, Scottie Scheffler kind of

brought the course to its knees as he shot 15 under to win by 5 shots over Wyndham Clark

and capture the $4 million winner’s check. Scheffler is back to defend, of course. He also

won at Bay Hill in 2022. He’s the two time defending champion at the Players Championship

which will commence next week at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra with the largest purse in

golf at $25 million with $4.5 M going to the winner. The Arnie Invitational is the fourth

signature (elevated) event this year following the Sentry, won by Hideki ($3.6M), the AT&T

Pebble Beach (Rory, $3.6 M), and the Genesis Invitational (at Torrey Pines this

year, due to the L.A. fires, Ludvig Aberg, $4M). The Player sponsored signature events,

the Arnie, the Genesis (Tiger) and the Memorial (Jack) pay out 20 percent to the winner

($4M) as opposed to 18% in the other signature events, or $3.6 M. Either way, you ain’t

hurtin’ winning these events, or finishing in the top 25 for that matter. The other signature

events on the schedule are the RBC Heritage (April 17th-20th), the Truist Championship

(May 8th-11th in Philly), the Memorial Tournament (May 29th-June 1st), and the Travelers

Championship (June 19th-22nd). There are eight total signature events. It makes the tour

more exciting to watch.

There are 72 players in this week’s field at the Arnie. Scheffler will defend.

It’s an outstanding test of golf, particularly if the wind is swirling, which it will be on a couple

of the days; Thursday and Sunday.

Odds for The Arnie

Scheffler, 3/1, Rory, 8/1, Xander Schauffele, 16/1, Aberg, 16/1, Hideki, 25/1, Justin Thomas,

28/1, Patrick Cantlay, 30/1, Tommy Fleetwood, 35/1, Sungjae Im, 45/1, Will Zalatoris, 50/1,

Keegan Bradley (who says the U.S. is going to kick some tail at the Ryder Cup-we’ll see),

55/1, Matt Fitzpatrick, 55/1, Viktor Hovland, 55/1, Maverick McNealy, 55/1, Wyndham Clark,

60/1, Bob McIntyre, 60/1, Tony Finau, 60/1, Russell Henley, 65/1, Shane Lowry, 65/1, Daniel

Berger, 65/1, Sepp Straka, 70/1.

Weather

Thursday, 68, sunny. Wind 17 MPH, gusting to 25. That’ll be a test of their fortitude.

Friday, 76, sunny, wind 7.

Saturday, 83, sunny, wind 9.

Sunday, 63, 74% chance of t storms in the late afternoon, winds 10-15, gusting to 25-30.

I like to see these guys challenged to the max. They’re a pretty entitled group of athletes

right now, so I think a lot of us want to see them struggle a little; see what they’re made of.

For, as Brother Blutarsky said, “When the going gets tough… the tough gets

going!”

TV

Thursday-Friday: 1-5 PM CT, Golf Channel

Saturday-Sunday: 11:30 AM-1:30 PM CT (GC, NBC Sports App). 1:30-5 PM CT, NBC.

The rough is 4 inches high and could be as high as 4 1/2 by this weekend.

The greens will be stamping at 13.

The cut is top 50 and ties up to 10 strokes off the lead. Everybody gets a trophy.

Winner

I’m going to take the 35 year old Macon, Georgia Bulldog. He’s won 4 times on tour and I

like his mental makeup for this course. He finished tied for 5th at the AT&T Pebble Beach,

tied for 6th last week at the Cognizant Classic in Palm Beach (won by Joe

Highsmith?). And he finished tied for 4th at the Arnie last year. I’m taking:

Russell Henley

Sleeper

I don’t have a great idea on this, but I’ll take this 28 year old from Chapel Hill and UNC.

Ben Griffin

Will take this haymaker pick. (Photo courtesy of PGA Tour).