PGA Preview: 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational Picks

The PGA is once again in Florida taking advantage of warm weather at Bay Hill for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The field is packed with talent including several past winners starting with Tyrell Hatton coming in at +1600 as the defending champion.

It was not a low-scoring event! Hatton won by one stroke over Marc Leishman (+4000) last year by going only 4-under. The last eight winners before Hatton won by going 11 to 19 under. That includes Tiger Woods who won his 7th and 8th Arnold Palmer at 13-under in 2012 and 2013.

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While Hatton is included as one of the favorites to win outright by Intertops, he’s not at the top of the list. That honor goes to Rory McIlroy at +850 who won the event in 2018. McIlroy is the only player coming in under +1000. Here are the top-five favorites according to Intertops.

Rory McIlroy +850

Viktor Hovland +1100

Bryson DeChambeau +1200

Tyrrell Hatton +1600

Sungjae Im +2000

Patrick Reed +2000

2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational Preview

Where: Bay Hill, Florida

Course: Bay Hill Golf Club

Format: Stroke Play

Par: 72

Length: 7,454

When: March 4 –7, 2021

Purse: $9.5 Million.

TV Coverage: Golf Channel/CBS

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Last year the Arnold Palmer Invitational was brutal! Winds forced players to search for any opportunities to card a par let alone trying to shave a few strokes. As mentioned above, the winner was only four strokes under par. Only four players managed that feat with everyone else being even or worse.

Last year’s tournament had the highest scoring average in a non-major in the last four PGA seasons at 2.17 strokes over par. Now players are set to return with a better weather forecast – thankfully!

The course has some challenging holes including the No. 6 horseshoe par five with wraps around a lake. It’s always fun watching some players on YouTube trying to drive the green over the water.

Bay Hill is an iconic course with a traditional Florida look. It takes full advantage of the rolling terrain as rises in the course serve as additional obstacles to bunkers and water hazards. It’s always beautiful on TV.

2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational Predictions

Viktor Hovland +1100

I have to go with Viktor Hovland at +1100 as my favorite to win outright. He’s lit things up recently starting with a win a few weeks ago at the Mayakoba Golf Classic. He’s also scored a pair of T2 finishes and a T5 in his last five events. Hovland was a factor at the end last week at the WGC Workday Championship coming in at -15.

Patrick Reed +2000

I think Patrick Reed is coming into this tournament hot – especially at +2000. He’s second in the PGA for strokes gained and putting and still strong after his win at Torrey Pines a few weeks ago. Reed has been very consistent with all of his clubs and that will help him be in position for the win on Sunday.

Sungjae Im +2000

Sungjae Im has been great at Bay Hill his last two times at the course. He’s averaged 70.63 over those two tournaments carding a T3 and a 3 rd place finish. He’s been a bit unpredictable over his last few events which include a missed cut and three finishes outside of the top-twenty. But, he was T2 at the Masters before the end of 2020.

Daniel Berger +2800

Daniel Berger took last week off following his win at Pebble Beach two weeks ago. He has two recent wins on the PGA Tour and has carded seven finishes in the top-five over the last twelve months. This year (2021) Berger has his Peeble Beach win as well as a T7 at the Sony Open and a sole tenth place finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Others I Like: Marc Leishman (+4000) won the event in 2017 and has been racking up top-25 finishes as of late. He’s a bit wonky sometimes off the tee but he should be fine at Bay Hill. Once again, I think Harris English at +5000 is a nice value pick even if he was eight over at the WGC. I’ll repeat my thoughts on him from last week; he won the Tournament of Champions, was fourth at the U.S. Open, and T5 at the Mayakoba Golf Classic.

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2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational Odds

The Arnold Plamer is a 123 player invitational field with a 36 hole cut.

Rory McIlroy +850

Viktor Hovland +1100

Bryson DeChambeau +1200

Tyrrell Hatton +1600

Sungjae Im +2000

Patrick Reed +2000

Matthew Fitzpatrick +2200

Paul Casey +2500

Hideki Matsuyama +2500

Jordan Spieth +2800

Francesco Molinari +3300

Jason Day +3300

Louis Oosthuizen +3300

Billy Horschel +3300

Tommy Fleetwood +4000

Marc Leishman +4000

Sam Burns +4000

Will Zalatoris +4000

Jason Kokrak +4000

Max Homa +5000

Harris English +5000

Kevin Na +5000

Justin Rose +6000

Rickie Fowler +6600

Cameron Tringale +6600

Cameron Davis +6600

Kevin Kisner +6600

Christiaan Bezuidenhout +8000

Talor Gooch +8000

Branden Grace +8000

Lanto Griffin +8000

Charley Hoffman +8000

Adam Hadwin +10000

Shane Lowry +10000

Si-Woo Kim +10000

Emiliano Grillo +10000

Robert Macintyre +10000

Corey Conners +10000

Matt Jones +10000

Chris Kirk +10000

Luke List +10000

Maverick McNealy +10000

Victor Perez +10000

Ian Poulter +10000

Brendon Todd +10000

Wyndham Clark +10000

Alex Noren +10000

JT Poston +10000

Andrew Putnam +12500

Byeong-Hun An +12500

Zach Johnson +12500

Patton Kizzire +12500

Matthew Nesmith +12500

Brendan Steele +12500

Lee Westwood +12500

Matt Wallace +12500

Danny Willett +12500

Joel Dahmen +12500

Keegan Bradley +12500

Keith Mitchell +12500

Henrik Norlander +12500

Henrik Stenson +12500

Sebastian Munoz +12500

Bernd Wiesberger +15000

Aaron Wise +15000

Patrick Rodgers +15000

Kyle Stanley +15000

Erik Van Rooyen +15000

Doug Ghim +15000

Charles Howell III +15000

Russell Knox +15000

Nick Taylor +15000

Harold Varner III +15000

Tom Hoge +15000

Cameron Champ +15000

Dylan Frittelli +15000

Lucas Glover +15000

John Huh +15000

Chez Reavie +15000

Cameron Percy +15000

Steve Stricker +17500

Peter Malnati +17500

Rory Sabbatini +20000

Graeme McDowell +20000

Will Gordon +20000

Sung Kang +20000

Adam Long +20000

Doc Redman +20000

Sepp Straka +20000

Robby Shelton +20000

Martin Laird +20000

Kyoung-Hoon Lee +20000

Charl Schwartzel +20000

Brandt Snedeker +20000

Kramer Hickok +25000

Bo Hoag +25000

Hudson Swafford +25000

C T Pan +25000

Richy Werenski +25000

Jason Dufner +25000

Danny Lee +25000

Austin Cook +30000

Brian Gay +30000

Mark Hubbard +30000

Jazz Janewattananond +30000

Anirban Lahiri +30000

Tyler McCumber +30000

Brian Stuard +30000

Kristoffer Ventura +30000

Tyler Duncan +30000

Padraig Harrington +30000

Denny McCarthy +30000

Matt Every +50000

Jim Herman +50000

Robert Streb +50000

Camilo Villegas +50000

Matthias Schmid +50000

John Augenstein +50000

Tim Herron +100000

Kamaiu Johnson +150000

Paul Goydos +200000

Rod Perry +200000

Robert Gamez +250000

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