Daniel Berger With primary rough at least 3 inches high, distance and accuracy off the tee plays up all week. 8. Max Homa Thats where 2022 PRO champion Ryan Brehm is competing this week. Scottie Scheffler became the third straight first-time winner on tour, beating Patrick Cantlay in a sudden-death playoff with a 26-foot putt Sunday at TPC Scottsdale. Completely disregarded the laws on physics on this one. On a track that can reach 7,506 yards and with primary rough at a standard two inches in height, shorter hitters are influenced to just play their game, but like all proper tests, Grand Reserve rewards all archetypes. PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks. You can bet on the Arnold Palmer Invitational at DraftKings Sportsbook. Its officially a designated event in 2023, but you dont need to conceive a visual of the King himself winking, grinning and giving a thumbs-up to approve what we already know, that this tournament is special. He claimed the Houston Open in November and has four straight finishes of 16th or better since then, after finishing in a tie for 14th at Phoenix. 15 and 17 annually are among the most challenging as a set on TOUR, a fact due to sustained breezes from a southeasterly direction. 20. Ranks 17th in the model. The PGA Tour heads north to central Florida to visit Orlando and continue the Florida Swing at one of the most well-known events of the season. The good news is that the worst of the wind in early forecasting is moderate and kicking up only on Thursday and Sunday. Nothing has gone terribly wrong for him, and theres a chance Kim will be happy to get back to the south where he first won. Copyright 2023 PGA TOUR, Inc. All rights reserved. The Spanish player is about to begin his 38th week ranked No. Still, given his track record at Bay Hill and doses of phenomenal form a fortnight ago at Riviera, youll excuse any competitor for not missing him on the leaderboard this week. McIlroy (2018) is another former champion of the tournament. The four par 3s, including the two that bracket The Bear Trap Nos. He had back-to-back top-five finishes at the Genesis before missing the cut last year. Now 291st in the OWGR, the 29-year-old is seeking to rekindle the form that he flashed here last year. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy entered the year ranked No. 19. Ranks 4th in SG: APP and 7th in Proximity: 200+ Yards. After tying for 25th in back-to-back starts at the Tournament of Champions and Farmers Insurance Open, he was much better in Phoenix, finishing solo fourth at 13 under. Rory McIlroy is not human. 17. Day had just two top-10s and five top-25s in 19 starts last season. Bermuda grass is in play as is the case throughout much of the Sunshine State. Harold Varner III Scheffler is the defending champion at Bay Hill, as he edged out Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Billy Horschel by a single stroke. 13. Tom Hoge He lost in a playoff to Homa and finished second in the 2021 Genesis Invitational. 2023 WM Phoenix Open picks, odds, Fantasy golf power rankings: PGA Tour 2. The strongest that the invisible force will get is approximately 20 mph, but the positive spin, as it were, is that it'll be consistent throughout the tournament. It started to come together at TPC Scottsdale. Yeah, you might want to move those next year. : Payouts and Points, Medical Extensions, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. He had six birdies in his first eight holes in the second round before picking up three bogeys on the second nine. 12. Sahith Theegala Since tying for second at the Shriners Children's Open in early October, he tied for 16th at the Tournament of Champions, tied for 26th at the American Express and missed the cut in Phoenix, where he lost in a playoff to Scheffler last season. Page not found | Golfweek It's major week once again and with the best players in the world preparing to tee it up at Kiawah Island, we have listed 10 players in our PGA Championship Player Power Rankings. The PGA Tour will head north to the east coast of Florida for the PGA Tours biggest event and the largest prize pool for a standard tournament all year. But he missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open after hitting consecutive shots into the water on No. Finished 9th here in 2020. Corey Conners : Conners will be happy hes off the West Coast considering his usual struggles there. To go forward, we must go back for a moment and tie off a loose end. The Norwegian went into Phoenix as one of the hottest golfers on the planet, having won in three of his past five starts on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. If you want more Arnold Palmer Invitational predictions at even longer odds, our experts suggest looking at Jason Day (+3000), Billy Horschel (+10000) and Tom Hoge (+12500). The Irishman has it going again with a 14th Riviera and 5th at Honda with more excellent ball striking. Previous rank: 6 Max Homa : Continued his incredible run in California with a 2nd at Riviera, and its safe to say hes being respected as one of the best in the world at this point. Previous rank: 2 Click here to join DraftKings for a chance to win a $150 bonus on a $5 bet. Round 3 PGA DFS Showdown Slate Picks - 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational He has 10 top-10s in 14 starts there, including a victory in 2020. His PGA TOUR Horse for the Course for daily fantasy golf based on course history. Hes found success on the Australasian Tour, Asian Tour, DP World Tour, etc. 12 Bryson DeChambeau (injury) is missing the top 15 in the OWGR. He finished tied for third, his first top-20 finish in his past 11 tour starts. Of course, he remains indefinitely beholden to when his extended recovery will allow him to play in accordance with a chosen schedule. Like most courses they visit in the Sunshine State, it will present plenty of water hazards throughout, including the famous par-5 sixth hole that features a bold drive over however much water the player thinks he can cut off. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking, hasn't yet his stride this season. Payne Stewart in 1987 was the only player to go 20-under when he won by three. 1 Jon Rahm. PGA Tour Power Rankings: 2016 Honda Classic 1. Like most Florida courses, its often windy. 12. In the third round of the 2022 Mexico Open at Vidanta, Jon Rahm shot a 3-under 68 to get to 15-under through 54 holes. The four Par 5s are the real scoring opportunities at Bay Hill. Previous rank: 1 16. Will Zalatoris : It was good to see him play well at Riviera with a 4th place finish and nearly 8 strokes gained with his ball striking. Scheffler had a round of 9-under 62 in the second round in Phoenix, which was his fifth career round of 62 or lower. Scheffler, who entered the week ranked No. They turned out to be foreshocks for four months of brilliant form that yielded a return to fully exempt status on the PGA TOUR. He won here in 2020, finished 2nd last year, and added a 4th as a debutant in 2017. Bay Hill plays as a 7,400-yard par 72 featuring Bermuda greens and much thicker rough than weve seen all year and usually see around Florida. 1, LIV Golf's debut on The CW scores low ratings, How to watch PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational on ESPN+, Kirk wins Honda in playoff; 1st title since 2015, Howell (63) wins in Mexico for 1st title in LIV, Nicklaus: '24 schedule likely to aid Honda field, Siem ends 8-year wait for another Euro Tour title, Vu overcomes 6-shot deficit to win 1st LPGA title, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Author of seven books on college football. As it has throughout the FedExCup era, PGA National Resorts Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens is the host. Rafael Campos The 34-year-old native of Puerto Rico hasnt been the same since an injured left elbow thwarted his only DNP in tournament history in 2020. If your first wager is a winner, not only will you receive the profits, but $150 worth of bonus bets will also be yours. He tied for third at the American Express and 13th at the Farmers Insurance Open, followed by a tie for 10th at the Phoenix Open. "High praise from Michael Greller on @JordanSpieth's ridiculous shot on 17 @WMPhoenixOpen. Rahm has been especially hot as of late, which is why he tops the official world golf rankings. He finished T16. Rory McIlroy No one is exactly sure why, considering Im likes to play -- a lot. It should also be noted that Zalatoris was in the top 10 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2021. Patrick Cantlay : Cantlay quickly brushed off his surprising struggles in Phoenix with a 3rd at Riviera. He'll make his debut on tour this year at Riviera. Still, the last two winners of Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau make it clear that elite drivers win around here. When the wind machine was on high for the final round, the course yielded a 75.481, highest for any final round on TOUR all season. Lees teed it up twice in 2023, both on the DP World Tours Middle-East swing. Chris Kirk lifted his first trophy since 2015 as he completely a lovely comeback story after dealing with alcoholism and depression. It had chased a couple of grumbles on the Korn Ferry Tour just before that. He hit the ball well last year, gaining nearly 2 strokes per round tee-to-green on the field, but his putting was dreadful, which is why he finished in a tie for 43rd. Our experts have a couple of Arnold Palmer Invitational predictions that they like, but their best bet is on Will Zalatoris to win outright with +2200 odds at DraftKings Sportsbook. This is the fourth designated event of the season. Much of Fitzpatrick's best work over the past few months has come in Europe, where he was second in the Italian Open and tied for fifth at the DP World Tour championship. Brutally difficult conditions led to Scottie Scheffler persevering to win at 5-under last year. Justin Thomas is one to watch this week at the PGA Championship. Sungjae Im is the highest among them at No. Thomas posted his fifth top-20 finish in as many PGA Tour starts this season with a tie for eighth at the WM Phoenix Open. @StewartCink is already rocking a @KDTrey5 jersey pic.twitter.com/FQLxm4tuo8. He was also fifth in fewest putts per round (28.14). Did the former world No. Zalatoris didn't play in Phoenix after he was forced to pull out of the AT&T Pebble Pro-Am a week earlier after testing positive for COVID-19. The 28-year-old seeks his first win since the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge, his third win in the 2021-22 season. Unlike the last two tournaments that exceeded the allotted reservation to make room for all automatically eligible PGA TOUR members both were designated events the cap of 144 at PGA National is the field size as advertised. The through line is hitting greens in regulation no matter how that equation is written for the individual. In years past, I may have skewed driving stats toward Driving Distance on the week, but Ill simply be using SG: Off the Tee. A cozy field of 120 is chasing a winners cut of 550 FedExCup points and $3.6 million from a prize fund of $20 million. On the heels of last weeks Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, the tour takes its talents to Orlandos Bay Hill Club & Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational that begins on Thursday and wraps up on Sunday. He took T-2nd at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where he was just a shot behind Victor Perez. The Florida swing on the PGA Tour begins this week at the 2023 Honda Classic as players aim to kickstart their seasons in the Sunshine State. He tied for 32nd at the Genesis in 2021. Shane Lowry : Im going to make the prediction that Lowry ends his strange poor history of four missed cuts here this week. Beau Hossler getting the "royal treatment" at the 2022 @WMPhoenixOpen pic.twitter.com/WCcbmi60xU, Before the sun was even up, fans made a mad dash to get a good spot at the 16th Hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Saturday. Each week in our golf power rankings, we will highlight the top players on the PGA TOUR in order of likeliness to win the tournament. PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks. Winners become PGA TOUR members for life, but theyre treated to so much more. He finished fifth in the Genesis Invitational last season. Putting can give you some real success at Bay Hill. A year ago, Kim was preparing for the Royal's Cup in Thailand on the Asian Tour.