Arnold Palmer Invitational Tips and Analysis; Dates, Times and TV Schedule

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Arnold Palmer Invitational Tips and Analysis; Dates, Times and TV Schedule
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Arnold Palmer Invitational Info

  • Dates: Thursday-Saturday
  • Location: Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando
  • Par: 72
  • Purse: $12 million

Favorites To Win

Odds are from Caesars Sportsbook.

  • John Rahm +800
  • Rory McIlroy +1200
  • Viktor Hovland +1600
  • Scottie Scheffler +1800
  • Hideki Matasuyama +2500

Tee Times

Tee Times (ET) Grouping
No. 1
7:10 a.m. Keegan Bradley, Matt Wallace, Trey Mullinax
7:21 a.m. Charl Schwartzel, Sean O'Hair, Doug Ghim
7:32 a.m. Jonathan Byrd, Cameron Young, Taylor Pendrith
7:43 a.m. K.H. Lee, Chez Reavie, Gary Woodland
7:54 a.m. Hudson Swafford, Nick Taylor, Adam Long
8:05 a.m. Talor Gooch, Si Woo Kim, Kevin Tway
8:16 a.m. Cam Davis, Sebastian Munoz, Henrik Stenson
8:27 a.m. Kevin Kisner, Carlos Ortiz, Rickie Fowler
8:38 a.m. Pat Perez, Chris Kirk, Stephan Jaeger
8:49 a.m. Taylor Moore, Paul Barjon, Greg Koch
11:40 a.m. Scott Piercy, Padraig Harrington, Sam Ryder
11:51 a.m. Kevin Streelman, Tommy Fleetwood, Vince Whaley
12:02 p.m. Aaron Wise, Danny Lee, Rory Sabbatini
12:13 p.m. Lucas Glover, Martin Laird, Corey Conners
12:24 p.m. Patrick Reed, Paul Casey, Brandt Snedeker
12:35 p.m. Tom Hoge, Viktor Hovland, Billy Horschel
12:46 p.m. Marc Leishman, Tyrrell, Hatton, David Lipsky
12:57 p.m. Sam Burns, Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia
1:08 p.m. Andrew Putnam, Ian Poulter, Henrik Norlander
1:19 p.m. Alex Smalley, Min Woo, Lee, John Pak
No. 10
7:10 a.m. Brendan Steele, Nick Watney, Aaron Rai
7:21 a.m. Scott Stallings, Cameron Tringle, Matt Fitzpatrick
7:32 a.m. Lee Westwood, Denny McCarthy, Thomas Pieters
7:43 a.m. Lucas Herbert, Branden Grace, Keith Mitchell
7:54 a.m. Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Zach Johnson
8:05 a.m. Luke List, Hideki Matsuyama, Max Homa
8:16 a.m. Scottie Scheffler, Sungjae Im, will Zalatoris
8:27 a.m. Sepp Straka, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott
8:38 a.m. Troy Merritt, Russell Henley, Sahith Theegala
8:49 a.m. Greyson Sigg, Davis Riley, Sam Bennett
11:40 a.m. Peter Malnati, Patrick Rodgers, Beau Hossler
11:51 a.m.Anirban Lahiri, J.J. Spaun, Adam Schenk
12:02 p.m. Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges, Hayden Buckley
12:31 p.m. Seamus Power, Michael Thompson, Matthew Wolff
12:24 p.m. Garrick Higgo, Matt Jones, Lanto Griffin
12:35 p.m. Dylan Frittelli, Charles Howell III, Danny Willett
12:46 p.m. Erik van Rooyen, Cameron Champ, Kevin Na
12:57 p.m. Jason Kokrak, Brendon, Todd, Patton Kizzire
1:08 p.m. Adam Svensson, Takumi Kanaya, Nicolai Hojgaard
1:19 p.m. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, David Thompson, James Piot

Arnold Palmer Invitational TV, Radio

All times ET.

Thursday

  • TV: Golf Channel, 2-6 p.m.
  • Radio: SiriusXM Channel 92, 11 a.m.
  • Stream: ESPN+, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Friday

  • TV: Golf Channel, 2-6 p.m.
  • Radio: SiriusXM Channel 92, 11 a.m.
  • Stream: ESPN+, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Saturday

  • TV: Golf Channel, 12:30-2:30 p.m.; NBC 2:30-6 p.m.
  • Radio: SiriusXM Channel 92, Noon
  • Stream: ESPN+, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

Sunday

  • TV: Golf Channel, 12:30-2:30 p.m.; NBC 2:30-6 p.m.
  • Radio: SiriusXM Channel 92, Noon
  • Stream: ESPN+, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.

How Arnold Palmer Invitational Shapes Up

The Masters is nearing, and the PGA Tour is about to embark on two of the non-major marquee events of the year making for some prime golf betting opportunities.

Golfers will tee it up this week at Bay Hill Club & Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational before heading to The Players Championship next week as the Florida swing continues.

What to Expect at Bay Hill

Bay Hill stands to test golfers’ all-around games, with the par 72 course stretching out over 7,400 yards and featuring long rough that will penalize wayward drives. Water is present on nearly half of the holes and if the wind is blowing, scoring conditions will be difficult.

But it’s the course’s length that serves as its primary defense, with 29% of approach shots measuring over 200 yards. Bay Hill also has the longest par 3 average on tour, measuring 231, 199, 215 and 221 yards. Five par 4s also span between 450 and 500 yards.

Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau will not participate in the tournament because of a left wrist injury. Last year, DeChambeau made waves by driving 370 yards over the water on the par 5 sixth hole before eventually defeating Lee Westwood by one stroke to secure the title.

This year’s field will feature five of the top 10 players in the world golf rankings and 16 of the top 30 players. World No. 1 Jon Rahm is making his Arnold Palmer Invitational debut, while Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama are the other top 10 players teeing it up.

Rahm is the betting favorite at +850 on FanDuel Sportsbook, while McIlroy (+1300), Hovland (+1500), Scheffler (+2100) and Matsuyama (+2100) follow on the FanDuel odds board.



Best Bet to Win

Viktor Hovland +1800

Bay Hill has not been a great spot for Hovland. He has made the cut three times but has never finished better than 40th. Not great! But a few key stats go in his favor this week.

On approaches over 200 yards over a golfer’s last 24 starts, Hovland ranks fourth in strokes gained in this category. In total strokes gained on approach over the last 24 rounds, he’s second at +22.0, trailing only Will Zalatoris (+24.8). And in his most recent start at Riveria Golf Course for the Genesis Open, Hovland gained 6.1 strokes on approach for a fourth-place finish, highlighting his hot iron game, which will be key at Bay Hill.

Hovland last won the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour in January. I remember seeing his odds on the final day float around +1600 to +2000 as he trailed before a late rally. I regretted not taking him then, and I don’t want to have bettor’s remorse if he puts it all together this week. I like the odds he's getting on at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Best Longshot

Matthew Wolff +12000

Kyoung-Hoon Lee (+13000) gave us some excitement at the Phoenix Open when he led during the first round before falling out of contention. At odds that long, all you can hope for is a shot like that.

Long odds winners have not been common at Bay Hill. Matt Every (+15000) defending his title in 2015 was the last time a triple-digit longshot was victorious at this event.

Based on recent form, it would be a bad idea to wager any amount of money on Matthew Wolff. He missed the cut and finished dead last at the Honda Classic, shooting 17-over par at the Honda Classic. At times, Wolff looked more like a weekend hacker than a professional, shooting 81 and 76.

His tournament was summed up on Friday when he threw his ball into the water after making a bogey, which probably wasn’t wise because he was running out of balls from hitting them into the water with his wayward shots.

So why Wolff? At this number, you’re looking to catch lightning in the bottle and hoping he can find any semblance of the form he had in 2020 when he was the runner-up at the U.S. Open and won the 2019 3M Open.

The main stat to support Wolff turning it around is he ranks second in strokes gained on approaches over 200 yards. Similar to how DeChambeau won last year with distance off the tee, Wolff has the potential to do the same if he can keep it out of the water, which is a big ask right now.

Best Prop

Rory McIlroy Top 10 +185

Behind Hovland, McIlroy would be my second pick to win, but I like this prop bet for him at FanDuel. McIlroy has finished in the top 10 at Bay Hill in each of the past five years, including a win in 2018.

He’s also posted the low round of the day in the last six Arnold Palmer Invitationals. Last year he was the first-round leader after shooting a six-under 66.

He had the second-best first-round score in 2020 and had the low rounds Saturday in 2017 and 2019 and fired the low Sunday round in 2016 and 2018.