• FIELD: Arnold Palmer Invitational
• COURSE: Bay Hill Club & Lodge, 7,419 yards, par 72.
Arnold Palmer proclaimed the 1961 Dick Wilson design the "best course in
Florida" when he first visited in 1965 - igniting a lifelong love
affair that spurred him to buy the place and make it his winter
headquarters. The PGA TOUR arrived in 1979, when the old Florida Citrus
Open relocated across town to "Arnie's Place." The closing trio of holes
often produces a dramatic finish, most notably Robert Gamez's stunning
7-iron holeout at No.18 to zoom past Greg Norman in the 1990
Invitational.
• FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points.
• FIELD WATCH: World No.1 Rory McIlroy, finally fulfilling a
promise to play before the King, heads a roster that features each of
the top five in the current world rankings. In all, Bay Hill will host
15 of the rankings' top 30. … World No. 2 Bubba Watson and No. 5 Jason
Day are among 10 entrants with PGA TOUR victories thus far in 2014-15. …
Kenny Perry, Bay Hill's winner in 2005, crosses over from the Champions
Tour to mark the 10th anniversary with a farewell appearance.
• 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Payne Stewart (1987).
• 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Andy Bean (2nd round, 1981), Greg Norman (2nd round, 1984), Adam Scott (1st round, 2014).
• LAST YEAR: Matt Every scored his first PGA TOUR victory in
stunning fashion, making up a four-shot deficit on a fading Adam Scott
and sweating out Keegan Bradley's late charge to claim a one-shot
triumph. Every closed with just a 2-under-par 70, including bogeys on
the final two holes that opened the door for Bradley to threaten a
playoff. After birdies at Nos. 16 and 17, Bradley faced a 30-foot birdie
try similar to ones Tiger Woods had made in previous years to win at
Bay Hill. But Bradley's attempt stayed left of the hole as Every
breathed a sigh of relief. Scott, whose Thursday 62 helped build a
seven-shot lead after 36 holes, made five bogeys in a closing 76.
• STORYLINES: McIlroy gets his first look at Arnie's Place,
seeking to regain the form that saw him finish first or second in five
of six starts before coming to these shores two weeks ago. He missed the
cut at the Honda Classic and tied for ninth at Trump Doral. … The TOUR
remains in quest of its first two-time winner this season, a stretch
that figures to reach 17 events unless someone notches his second at
Innisbrook this week. That's the longest stretch since 1994, when Nick
Price won his second in the season's 21st stop. … Padraig Harrington,
playoff winner of the Honda Classic, has a chance to give the Florida
Swing its third two-time winner in the past six years. Woods won at
Doral and Bay Hill last year; Ernie Els did it in 2010.
• SHORT CHIPS: Woods, not seen since aborting his opening
round at Torrey Pines after just 11 holes, is sitting out the
Invitational for the second straight year and just his third since
turning pro in 1996. He's an eight-time winner at Bay Hill, matching the
TOUR record at one venue. … In 36 editions since coming to Bay Hill,
U.S. players have claimed all but five titles. Els has two wins among
internationals (1998 and 2010); the others belong to Australia's Rod
Pampling (2006), Fiji's Vijay Singh (2007) and Scotland's Martin Laird
(2011). … No fewer than a dozen of the 132 players in the field keep a
residence in the Orlando area, a list that includes Watson and world
No.3 Henrik Stenson.
• TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (NBC).
Last week's winner - SeaPA. Congrats!
Updated Standings
1. Sea - 5279 -
2. dfs - 4739
3. Bobcat - 4168
4. Ed - 3950
5. 2952 - 3596
6. Liz-3385
7. NMT - 3218
8. NiA- 2947
9. DL - 2833
10. 67810 - 2796
11. kt - 2381
12. Bill - 2331
13. Ocala - 2216
14. Baldy - 1132
Good Luck!
This post was edited on 3/22 8:49 PM by DFSNOLE
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