141K X followers PGA Tour pro gives golf "sickos" a sneak peek at Arnold Palmer Invitational venue conditions

The 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational is set to take place from March 6-9 at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida. As Michael Kim prepares to tee off the tournament, he shared insights into the course's conditions during Wednesday's (February 5) practice round.

Kim, who has over 141 thousand followers on X, posted an update on one of the course's most challenging holes, the par-3 17th hole. The hole has been infamous in past editions of the Arnold Palmer Invitational due to its massive water hazard along the right of the hole.

The hole, measuring 221 yards from the championship tees, challenges players' accuracy. In the past editions of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, if a player were to miss the green on the right side, the ball would kick right into the hazard.

However, Michael Kim stated that the rough around the 17th hole green is incredibly high and thick. The PGA Tour golfer's comments came as a disappointment to golf "sickos" as the player's golf balls will now hold on to give them a chance to save for par.

Michael Kim wrote:

"Some of you sickos will be disappointed to hear that the rough is so high on the bank of 17, that it likely won’t bounce back into the water as long as you don’t get super close to the water. The ball you see here landed a foot left of where it stopped."

The professional golfer also shared an image of the banks to illustrate how thick the rough is. Kim had missed the green by a considerable yardage during the practice round. Due to the conditions, the ball halted within a foot of its landing site when it was expected to bounce into the water hazard.

Michael Kim will tee off the first round of the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational at 10:40 AM ET along with Lucas Glover. The duo will tee off the Bay Hill's first hole.

2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational Round 1 Tee Times

Here's a look at the tee times and pairings for the opening round of the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational with all times mentioned in ET (via PGA Tour):

7:40 a.m. – Brian Campbell, Jacob Bridgeman
7:50 a.m. – Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee
8:00 a.m. – J.J. Spaun, Aldrich Potgieter
8:10 a.m. – Aaron Rai, Sungjae Im
8:20 a.m. – Max Homa, Adam Hadwin
8:30 a.m. – Taylor Pendrith, Sahith Theegala
8:40 a.m. – Billy Horschel, Jason Day
8:50 a.m. – Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young
9:05 a.m. – Akshay Bhatia, Matthieu Pavon
9:15 a.m. – Davis Thompson, Eric Cole
9:25 a.m. – Austin Eckroat, Byeong Hun An
9:35 a.m. – Cam Davis, Si Woo Kim
9:45 a.m. – Ludvig Åberg, Scottie Scheffler
9:55 a.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland
10:05 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, Collin Morikawa
10:20 a.m. – Andrew Novak, Max McGreevy
10:30 a.m. – Daniel Berger, Ben Griffin
10:40 a.m. – Lucas Glover, Michael Kim
10:50 a.m. – Isaiah Salinda, Jackson Koivun (a)
11:00 a.m. – Maverick McNealy, Mackenzie Hughes
11:10 a.m. – Nick Taylor, Sam Stevens
11:20 a.m. – J.T. Poston, Brian Harman
11:35 a.m. – Thomas Detry, Adam Scott
11:45 a.m. – Robert MacIntyre, Matt Fitzpatrick
11:55 a.m. – Denny McCarthy, Max Greyserman
12:05 p.m. – Stephan Jaeger, Corey Conners
12:15 p.m. – Nick Dunlap, Will Zalatoris
12:25 p.m. – Chris Kirk, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12:35 p.m. – Sepp Straka, Tony Finau
12:50 p.m. – Russell Henley, Tom Hoge
1:00 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry
1:10 p.m. – Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas
1:20 p.m. – Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns
1:30 p.m. – Joe Highsmith, Patrick Cantlay
1:40 p.m. – Justin Rose, Patrick Rodgers
1:50 p.m. – Harris English, Rafael Campos

About the author

Lathika is one of the newer additions to Sportskeeda’s budding golf journalism team and has brought plenty of in-game experience to the role. Having been a golfer for over 12 years now, some of her crowning achievements include winning titles on the Indian Golf Union Ladies tour and Junior Girls Amateur tour.

She currently competes in Division 1 golf in New York, and hopes to play in the U.S. Open and Chevron Championship one day. She is set to cover the 2025 Ryder Cup as well. She is currently pursuing a degree in Business Administration and Management, and holds a Sports Marketing certification from Northwestern University, which helped her learn to draft press releases and ultimately transition into journalism.

Lathika has thus developed a knowledge base that allows her to view golf from both player, spectator and media lenses, enabling her to bring statistics, insights and an understanding of fan emotion together in her copies. She only uses verified information from reliable sources like the PGA TOUR.

Her favorite golfers are Nelly Korda and Tiger Woods, both for their playing style as well as their mental strength. Much of her time away from work is spent playing golf, but she also enjoys spending time with her family and friends, and learning new hobbies or upskilling.

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Edited by Samya Majumdar