Arnold Palmer Invitational: Key Players to Watch

If you’re the kind of particular person who uses televised sporting functions to figure out what year it is, consider this the announcement for spring: The Arnold Palmer Invitational usually takes position this 7 days. The API runs Thursday to Sunday at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in suburban Orlando, FL. It’s neither the very first party of the 2022 PGA Tour nor the to start with in warm temperature (or even in Florida). It is, having said that, one particular of the largest tournaments of the early time, and it serves as an on-ramp to the The Players Championship following weekend at TPC Sawgrass. The API attracts a potent field, and it is normally when the PGA Tour commences to really get competitive.

The match draws most of the world’s best players simply because of its revered namesake and mainly because serves as a good opening act for a vital stretch of the golfing time. For individuals looking at at home, the broadcast is break up amongst Golf Channel and NBC, with streaming for much of the tournament on ESPN+. Golfing Channel takes Thursday and Friday and the early weekend shifts, even though the main telecast on Saturday and Sunday afternoons moves to NBC.

Last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational was a person of the finest occasions of the year, as two gamers with diametrically diverse types, Bryson DeChambeau and Lee Westwood, duked it out in the remaining round. DeChambeau, a large masher in the key of his career, had to work tough to keep off a 47-12 months-old Westwood and acquire by a shot. The Arnold Palmer Invitational 2022 area will possible offer you very similar stages of drama. Beneath are a few storylines to check out as the gamers hit the class this week.

Arnold Palmer Invitational 2022 Preview: What to Enjoy This 7 days

370 yards. 💪😲

The longest generate on the 6th gap since 2003.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/zkL2jlU8S3

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 6, 2021

1. The most notable issue about the industry may well be the player who just bowed out.

At just about 7,400 yards throughout its 18 holes, Bay Hill is 1 of the extended setups on the PGA Tour. Its par-3 holes are the longest on tour, time period, at an normal of 212 yards.

Bryson DeChambeau is the largest driver on the tour, and he made a mockery of the class on the way to winning there in 2021. His huge drives authorized him to enjoy the training course in different ways than any individual else. DeChambeau received 1.76 strokes for every spherical on the area on his tee photographs, as his 305-property average push manufactured the system a ton shorter for him than it is for most. Westwood navigated the training course brilliantly but did not have the juice to catch him.

This year, hand and hip injuries held DeChambeau out for most of February. His agent produced it seem like DeChambeau would participate in this week, but he backed out on Monday:

An update on API. pic.twitter.com/fX0OgY7xF4

— Bryson DeChambeau (@b_dechambeau) February 28, 2022

So, which is that.

So near. 🤏

Only a couple inches absent from an ace for Cameron Young. pic.twitter.com/XeyHc5fQab

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 17, 2022

2. DeChambeau’s absence opens the door for other players with a equivalent profile.

Even with DeChambeau gone, the winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational will most likely nevertheless be the participant who can travel the hell out of the ball and shorten the program to his benefit. There are a number of candidates who in shape the monthly bill:

Corey Conners, who finished third previous year and has had a person of the ideal drivers on the PGA Tour over the previous 4 or five a long time. In addition to his recent robust efficiency at Bay Hill, Conners is seventh in the entire world in strokes received off the tee more than the last 6 months, according to Info Golfing.

Cameron Younger is a tour rookie, but he finished next at the hugely aggressive Genesis Invitational in February and has place up huge figures with his driver.

Keith Mitchell is yet another major hitter who finished tied for sixth and tied for fifth at Bay Hill in 2019 and 2020, respectively, just before tying for 43rd past 12 months.

Marc Leishman, the veteran Aussie who won at Bay Hill in 2017, concluded second in 2020 and has sprinkled in a few other robust efforts on the program as effectively. Leishman, now 38, doesn’t match the big-hitting mildew at this level in his career, and he did not make the slice for the API in 2021. But perhaps he can figure out the training course yet again.

Typically speaking, Bay Hill doesn’t lend alone to major upsets. Tiger Woods has gained this match an absurd eight instances, and far more recent winners have also tended to be some of the most effective gamers in the planet: Rory McIlroy in 2018, Francesco Molinari in 2019 (the year following he received the Open up Championship), Tyrrell Hatton in 2020, and DeChambeau in 2021.

Rory at Riv 🚁 pic.twitter.com/IolcsAhZcI

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 17, 2022

3. Rory McIlroy looks prepared to go on a tear.

McIlroy does that from time to time, and he’s began the 2022 PGA Tour on a scorching streak. He won the CJ Cup in October (the start of what’s recognized as the 2022 year in spite of currently being in 2021). He performed nicely in a pair of better-stop European Tour events in January, and he tied for 10th at the Genesis Open in February amid a single of the year’s most packed fields. He’s so far averaging two strokes gained per spherical on the industry, about a 50 %-stroke superior than 2021 and in line with his greatest seasons in the early 2010s. He has also received at Bay Hill prior to. McIlroy at times can make golfing search easy, and he could be finding into a single of those phases.

McIlroy, now 32, has remained a major-15 participant in the globe but hasn’t won a important championship because the 2014 PGA Championship. He’d no question like to win The Masters in April (the inexperienced jacket has torturously eluded him so far). To hit his peak about then, McIlroy requires to perform perfectly in March, and he’s played effectively at Bay Hill plenty of periods. It’s not tough to picture him acquiring a huge exhibiting at the API this 12 months.

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