The PGA Tour has reached its second tournament on its Florida Swing at the Bay Hills Golf Course. The 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational, presented by Mastercard, will kick off on March 7 and continue until Sunday, March 10. Meanwhile, the fourth of the signature events and the second of the three player-hosted tournaments after the Genesis Invitational will see the current top players of the Tour battling against each other for glory while the uprising golfers duke it out at Puerto Rico.

A total of 69 athletes will tee it off in Florida. Interestingly, being a signature event, the focus of the players will be on the elevated prize pool of $20 million, along with the title of champion. Although the tournament will witness the best of the Jay Monahan-led circuit, there will undoubtedly be a few fan favorites who will make the cut after 36 holes and go ahead to try to win the competition!

The strong contenders at the Arnold Palmer Invitational

The field for the Invitational, which includes players who qualified through Aon Next 10, Aon Swing 5, the top 50 in last year’s FedEx Cup standings, 2024 Tour winners, and exemptions, was finalized following the recently ended Cognizant Classic. Meanwhile, the tournament, which acts as a qualifying event for the Open Championship, will allow three golfers to make the field at the major championship. Thus, with the opportunity in sight, there are many who are favorites to emerge victorious.

1. Kurt Kitayama: He is the defending champion of the event and is currently ranked No. 37 on the OWGR. Although the 31-year-old placed at T39 in his last event at the Genesis Invitational, he managed a T8 finish at the WM Phoenix Open, which took place before that with a score of 13-under 271. What’s more, he also finished inside the top 25 at the Sony Open in Hawaii. Nevertheless, he will surely be hoping to rake in his fifth professional win in his career by defending his title at the upcoming tournament.

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2. Scottie Scheffler: The current No. 1 golfer in the world has been having a pretty good run in the 2024 calendar. Out of the five starts after his win in the 2023 Hero World Challenge that took place in December, the American Pro has finished a total of four times inside the top 10, with the remaining one in the 17th position in the American Express. He will undoubtedly be looking to continue his amazing run at the signature event, all the while aiming for the top spot to maintain his ranking on the OWGR.

3: Rory McIlroy: The Northern Irishman had a scintillating start to 2024 with a runner-up finish at the Dubai Invitational, followed by a victory at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. Although he hasn’t made his mark yet this season on the PGA Tour, the golfer will be presented with the opportunity to reclaim the No. 1 ranking on the OWGR at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he won back in 2018. How? Well, if he ends up winning the tourney while Scheffler finishes tied for T3 or worse, the 34-year-old can jump to the top of the world rankings.

4: Xander Schauffele: Although the current No. 5 on the OWGR has not emerged victorious this year, his finishes at the Jay Monahan-led circuit have left many in awe. Out of the five starts, the golfer has finished 4 times inside the top 10, the best of which came at the American Express, where he placed T3, and the last of which was a T4 at the Genesis Invitational. He is surely a fan favorite to win the event.

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5: Wyndham Clark: One should never underestimate the world No. 7 based on his last performance at the previous signature event. Although he missed the cut at the same time, the golfer has proved his remarkable skills through a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he registered a 12-under 60 in the third round of the tournament. This, in turn, helped him propel himself to the top of the leaderboard, due to which he emerged triumphant after the competition was shortened to 54 holes. Many in the community will be looking forward to the golfer pulling off a similar feat in Florida as well.

A test for the PGA Tour Pros at Bay Hills Golf Course

Since 1979, the par-72, 7466-yard course that Dick Wilson designed has hosted the annual signature event and served as a testing ground for the top players on the men’s circuit. The beautiful course, along with the Charger Links, spans across 270 acres along the Butler Chain of Lakes, which offers a fair challenge to both professionals and amateurs.

Interestingly, the grounds will hope to provide a scintillating display of golf for the community as they await the top brass of the PGA Tour duking it out amongst themselves. More importantly, the golfers will be hoping to prove themselves the best among the best as well as clinch the title and rake in the winner’s cut of $4 million.

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