This week the PGA TOUR will be in Orlando at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf and Country Club.
The star-studded field will include Adam Scott, seeking to win a third consecutive start, and world No. 2 Rory McIlroy. They headline a roster that features four of the top 10 in the current World Rankings. Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose are the other top-10 entrants.
Overall, Bay Hill will welcome 12 of the rankings’ top 30. And that does not include two-time defending champion Matt Every.
Scott won the Honda Classic and at Doral, giving him a chance to become the first player to win three consecutive starts since Tiger Woods won five straight in 2007-08.
If Scott finds himself in contention, he will have to overcome a bit of scar tissue. Scott led the first three rounds in 2014, but shot a final-round 76 to finish two shots behind winner Matt Every.
Given his current form, Scott has to top the list of favorites this week.
Meanwhile, it is just a matter of time before McIlroy ends a winless drought on Tour dating to last May at Quail Hollow. McIlroy tied for 11th in 2015 during his first start at Bay Hill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYq0E-zlnps
World No. 7 and Orlando resident Henrik Stenson played in the final pairing in 2015, but he lost his chance to win after consecutive three-putts on the 15th and 16th holes. World No. 8 Justin Rose finished runner-up in 2013 to Tiger Woods.
One notable player not in the field this week in Orlando is World No. 1 Jordan Spieth. Spieth chose to play at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor last week where he won last year. Spieth, who finished 18th in Palm Harbor, also played the week prior at the World Golf Championship Cadillac Championship at Doral in Miami.
Spieth has yet to play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational tournament in his career.
Another player missing from the field is Tiger Woods who is still recovering from back surgery and has not played on the tour this year.
Woods is synonymous with 72nd-hole drama at Bay Hill, sinking lengthy birdie putts to win three of his eight Arnold Palmer Invitational titles — in 2001, 2008 and 2009. Woods also won in 2012 which was Woods’ first PGA TOUR win in 108 tour events.
Woods is not the only player to come through in the clutch to win Palmer’s event. Defending champion Matt Every sank a 17-foot birdie on the 18th hole last year for back-to-back Arnold Palmer Invitational wins. And no winning shot at Bay Hill matches Robert Gamez’s 5-iron for eagle on the final hole to beat Greg Norman in 1990.
NBC will deliver nearly 50 hours of coverage and analysis from Bay Hill. This includes 20 hours of tournament coverage — Thursday-Friday from 2-6 p.m. on Golf Channel, and Saturday-Sunday from 12:30-2:30 p.m. on Golf Channel and from 2:30-6 p.m. on NBC.
