- The iconic 18th hole at Bay Hill is just as pretty when the sun goes down. (Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR)
Full field list for the Arnold Palmer Invitational as of March 10.
• COURSE: Bay Hill Club & Lodge, 7,419 yards, par 72. A rustic golf outpost on Orlando’s rural outskirts got a major boost in 1965 when Arnold Palmer proclaimed it the “best course in Florida” upon his first visit. Over time, Palmer eventually bought the place and made it his winter base. The PGA TOUR arrived in 1979, when the old Florida Citrus Open relocated across town to “Arnie’s Place.” Laid out in 1961 by Dick Wilson, Palmer’s constant tinkering over the years has left no doubt about whose stamp it bears. Bay Hill’s closing trio of holes often yields a dramatic finish, most notably Robert Gamez’s stunning 7-iron holeout at No. 18 to vault past Greg Norman in the 1990 edition.
• FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points.
• CHARITY: The Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation, which oversees both the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. A neonatal unit in need of expansion spurred Palmer in 1987 to dedicate tournament proceeds toward a new facility. Since then, the event has generated more than $16 million for the campus.
• FIELD WATCH: Jason Day, the final champion to have that special greenside moment with The King, defends his title against a roster that includes a dozen others from the top 25 in the world rankings. Hideki Matsuyama and Henrik Stenson are other top-10 entrants. … Korean pro Jeunghun Wang, with three European Tour wins in the past 10 months, makes his second start on U.S. soil. The first came at last year's PGA Championship. Also, world No. 11 Alex Noren tees it up on these shores for the first time since Baltusrol. … John Daly, now a PGA TOUR Champions regular, returns to Bay Hill for the first time since 2006. He might be best known around the place for the 18 he carded at No. 6 in 1998.
• 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: Day prevailed in a sprint to the finish, fighting his swing all day but saving his best for the end with a brilliant up-and-down from a greenside bunker at No.18 that preserved a one-shot win over Kevin Chappell. Day lost a two-stroke lead on the front nine, then had to chase down Chappell with a 12-foot birdie at the par-3 17th. Chappell, one group ahead, bogeyed the 18th to fall one shot back and wait out Day’s finish. The Aussie took the “Devil’s Bathtub” out of play and wound up in the left front bunker, leaving him nearly 100 feet from the flagstick. His blast came out nearly perfect, trickling to 4 feet for the winning par. The win lifted Day back to No. 2 in the world, returning to the top a week later with his win at the WGC-Dell Match Play.
• STORYLINES: Palmer’s absence from his beloved tournament will hover over the week, an occasion for both sadness and joy in his legacy. Attendees at Bay Hill will see a new bronze statue of Palmer, positioned to overlook the first and 10th tees. Host duties will be shared by a golf foursome – Annika Sorenstam, Graeme McDowell, Peter Jacobsen and Curtis Strange – plus former Homeland Security chief and Palmer confidant Tom Ridge. … Day tees it up for the first time since the West Coast, where he had two top-12s in four starts but was 64th last time out at Riviera. … Stenson, an Orlando resident who lives some 45 minutes away, returns in quest of his first Bay Hill victory. He’s been no worse than fifth in the past three years.
• SHORT CHIPS: Day’s victory was just the sixth by an international player in 38 editions at Bay Hill, though five have come in the past 11 years. The others: Ernie Els (1998, ‘10), Rod Pampling (2006), Vijay Singh (2007) and Martin Laird (2010). … Tiger Woods, an eight-time winner at Bay Hill, will sit out for the fourth straight year and just his fifth since turning pro in 1996. Those eight victories at “Arnie’s Place” tie his own TOUR record at one venue, alongside Firestone CC and Torrey Pines.
• 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).
• PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. ET (featured groups), 3-6 p.m. (featured holes). Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (featured holes).
• RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 1-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.COM).
The PGSF tour comes to Bay Hill, the first stop since the passing of Arnold Palmer.Hope a lot of young golf fans watch this weekend so they can see what should be some outstanding/emotional remembrance stories , photos and videos of what was/is a golf legend
Congratulations to ktnole, who continues his winning ways with a victory at Valspar
good luck to everyone this week
)
