We’ve moved on from the Honda Classic to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, but unfortunately we got some bad news on Tuesday when Tiger Woods withdrew from the tournament citing a strain in his neck. Woods had apparently been playing, quite well mind you, with this strain for a few weeks, but it’s still a big loss for the event where he’s won eight times in his career.
However, that doesn’t mean that this event won’t be as great as it always seems to be coming down the stretch. With a very hot Rory McIlroy and the number two and three players in the world in Justin Rose and Brooks Koepka as well as Rickie Fowler who has a win and T2 in his last three starts, this week is sure to be interesting.
Purse: $9.1 million ($1,638,000 to winner)
Defending champion: Rory McIlroy defeated Bryson DeChambeau in 2018 by three strokes to win his 14th PGA Tour event and his first since the 2016 Tour Championship.
Odds
| Rory McIlroy | +600 |
| Justin Rose | +1000 |
| Brooks Koepka | +1000 |
| Rickie Fowler | +1100 |
| Jason Day | +1200 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | +1500 |
| Marc Leishman | +2200 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | +2500 |
| Francesco Molinari | +3000 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | +3000 |
TV Schedule
| Thursday | 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM | Golf Channel | ||
| Friday | 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM | Golf Channel | ||
| Saturday | 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM | Golf Channel | 2:30 PM – 6:00 PM | NBC |
| Sunday | 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM | Golf Channel | 2:30 PM – 6:00 PM | NBC |
Tee Times
No. 1 Tee
6:45 AM – Tim Herron, Abraham Ancer, Ryan Blaum
6:57 AM – Richy Werenski, Sam Ryder, Corey Conners
7:08 AM – Aaron Baddeley, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Bronson Burgoon
7:20 AM – Daniel Berger, Davis Love III, Chesson Hadley
7:31 AM – Francesco Molinari, Brice Garnett, Ted Potter, Jr.
7:43 AM – J.B. Holmes, Kevin Na, Stewart Cink
7:54 AM – Michael Kim, Brendan Steele, Hideki Matsuyama
8:06 AM – Martin Trainer, Scott Piercy, Si Woo Kim
8:17 AM – Danny Lee, Robert Streb, Lucas Glover
8:29 AM – Vaughn Taylor, Graeme McDowell, Shane Lowry
8:40 AM – Carlos Ortiz, Nate Lashley, Rod Perry
11:35 AM – Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Rodgers, Ollie Schniederjans
11:47 AM – Charley Hoffman, Sung Kang, Eddie Pepperell
11:58 AM – Hunter Mahan, Michael Thompson, Scott Langley
12:10 PM – Bubba Watson, Pat Perez, Brian Harman
12:21 PM – Adam Long, Cameron Champ, Aaron Wise
12:33 PM – Marc Leishman, Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy
12:44 PM – Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka
12:56 PM – Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Byeong Hun An
1:07 PM – Jason Kokrak, Luke List, Talor Gooch
1:19 PM – Adam Schenk, Anders Albertson, Sam Horsfield
No. 10 Tee
6:45 AM – Ryan Moore, Anirban Lahiri, HaoTong Li
6:57 AM – Martin Laird, J.J. Spaun, Matthew Fitzpatrick
7:08 AM – Kevin Streelman, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Sam Saunders
7:20 AM – Andrew Landry, Jason Dufner, Martin Kaymer
7:31 AM – Keegan Bradley, Jhonattan Vegas, Jimmy Walker
7:43 AM – Justin Rose, Brandt Snedeker, Henrik Stenson
7:54 AM – Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Ian Poulter
8:06 AM – Keith Mitchell, Kevin Kisner, Steve Stricker
8:17 AM – Matt Every, Harris English, J.T. Poston
8:29 AM – Dominic Bozzelli, Roger Sloan, Justin Suh
11:35 AM – Bill Haas, Joel Dahmen, Thorbjorn Olesen
11:47 AM – Brian Gay, Harold Varner III, Sungjae Im
11:58 AM – C.T. Pan, Beau Hossler, Joaquin Niemann
12:10 PM – Adam Hadwin, Hudson Swafford, Vijay Singh
12:21 PM – Charles Howell III, Danny Willett, Tommy Fleetwood
12:33 PM – Ryan Armour, D.A. Points, Zach Johnson
12:44 PM – Billy Horschel, Austin Cook, Kyle Stanley
12:56 PM – Scott Stallings, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Wallace
1:07 PM – Chris Kirk, Robert Gamez, Bud Cauley
1:19 PM – Sam Burns, Viktor Hovland, Braden Thornberry
My Pick
Took a big hit last week with Adam Scott changing up his putting stroke the week of the tournament and then not making the cut. I didn’t see that coming considering he’s been playing well all season.
So, this week I’m going to stick with a guy I’ve already picked once this season in Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy has finished T4, T5, T4, and 2nd in his last four starts. He would have won the WGC-Mexico Championship had Dustin Johnson not gone scorched Earth on the field. He’s the defending champion and is playing spectacular golf, as his results show.
McIlroy currently ranks first in strokes gained off-the-tee, first in strokes gained tee-to-green, and first in strokes gained total. Where he’s struggled, is hitting fairways. McIlroy has hit 163 of 284 fairways for a 57.39% accuracy total and ranks 171st in that category.
If he can keep it in the fairway, he’s going to give himself another chance this week.
