Tiger Woods will not be contending for the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational due to a back issue, which means he’ll have to wait at least another year to add to his record of eight wins at the Bay Hill Club in Orlando. With Woods out, who are the favorites, sleepers, and long shots to win the event this year? And who will among them will hoist the trophy at its conclusion on Sunday? Let’s find out.
McIlroy has yet to win a tournament since the start of the new decade, but that doesn’t mean he’s not doing well. In fact, he’s made the top five in all of his three starts this year. He had a T3 at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, a T5 at the Genesis Invitational in February, and is coming off a fifth-place finish at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship late last month. Also, McIlroy won the 2018 edition of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Brooks Koepka (+1400)
Koepka’s not having a terrific season, as he’s still trying to find his form after dealing with a knee injury. In four starts this season, Koepka has been cut twice and has withdrawn once. His best finish was a T43 at the Genesis Invitational last month. That being said, it may just be a matter of time before the scary form Koepka flashed last season resurfaces. Koepka missed the cut in last week’s Honda Classic but did not blame the poor performance on his knee, saying “I’m fine. Everything’s good. No complaints., It’s nothing to do with my knee. It’s just me,” per ESPN.
HIGH-VALUE SLEEPERS
Xander Schauffele (+1800)
Currently ranked 12th in the FedExCup, Schauffele has been decent of late, with three top 25s and two top 16s over his last three starts. Schauffeleis seventh among all golfers on the tour with a 69.361 scoring average.
Justin Rose (+3000)
Rose nearly won the 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational but only finished second — behind some golfer who goes by the name Tiger Woods. Palmer has yet to have a top 25 finish on the current PGA TOUR season, though, he did place tied for fifth at the Hero World Challenge last December.
LONG SHOTS
Vijay Singh (+50,000)
Singh is among the oldest in the field at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational, which also means he’s one of the most experienced. Singh is a former champion of the tournament (2007) and has been a runner-up three times (1993, 1994, 2005).
Matt Every (+50,000)
Not many casual sports fans know who Every is. He’s not even a household name in the world of golf. But here’s the thing with the Daytona Beach native: he’s won the Arnold Palmer Invitational twice. Every won the tournament in 2014 and 2015 to join Tiger Woods as the only consecutive winners of the event.
Billy Horschel (+5000)
Horschel broke a nice momentum last weekend when he finished with a T42 at the Honda Classic. Prior to that, he had back-to-back T9s. He was a T50 last year at the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Writer’s Prediction
Rory McIlroy wins the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
