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After a successful Honda Classic outing at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Florida, the PGA Tour is headed to the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Ahead of the event’s Thursday start, the PGA Tour has let out its experts pick and its defending champion, Scottie Scheffler, on top. Despite being on the stacked field with World No. 1 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Rory McIlroy, among 27 of the world's top 30 and 44 of the world's top 50 golfers, Scheffler is being dubbed as favorite for the event.
Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm top Arnold Palmer Invitational experts pick
The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard will be the third 'designated event' of 2023. The event, carrying a $20 million prize purse, is filled with big names. Owing to the PGA Tour’s standardized system for determining event fields based on the current season’s Priority Ranking and exemptions, all top three of the world rankings will be at the event, competing for the top prize of $3.6 million and a winner’s cut of 550 FedExCup points.
According to the PGA Tour experts, defending champion Scottie Scheffler is the tournament favorite. Experts note that the golfer is “1-for-1 in successfully defending a title on the PGA Tour,” thus giving him odds to repeat the feat this week. Coming off the back of a few successful outings, including the Pheonix Open title win, Scheffler seems like a safe bet. However, he is closely followed by World No.1 Jon Rahm.
The Spaniard is arguably the best golfer in the world right now. Having won five events in the last five months, including the Genesis Open, and climbed atop the golf rankings, Rahm remains a serious contender for this week’s competition as well. Claiming that he “wins all golf tournaments,” the PGA Tour expert added that Rahm is certain to improve on his T17 finish on his Bay Hill debut last year.
Max Homa is a betters' favorite for the event. Notably, PGA Tour experts also rate the golfer high. According to them, Homa is the third favorite to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, above Rory McIlroy. The Irishman, who fell from the top of the world rankings, is another big contender looking to get back to form with a win.
Tyrrell Hatton, Jason Day, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris, Viktor Hovland, and Kieth Mitchell are the other names in the PGA Tour experts’ top 10 for the upcoming event. Meanwhile, names like Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Jordan Spieth, and Hideki Matsuyama are also being raised by top experts at Golfbet Insider.
It is pertinent to note that the Arnold Palmer Invitational will be the fourth designated event of the season. Interestingly, Tiger Woods is the only 23 Player Impact Program winners not to commit to the event. The golfer, still in his extended recovery, continues to choose his schedule carefully.
Coming off the back of successful Genesis Open and Honda Classic outings, the players will be eyeing a refreshing start in Orlando.
