120 Players take to Bay Hill this week for the Arnold Palmer Invitational with Tiger amongst the pack as he returns to one of his all-time favourite courses, having won here eight times.
It was just great seeing him in the mix last Sunday at the Valspar, wasn’t it? Gave you that warm fuzzy feeling. And just seeing him smile. Happy out. Aaaah.
Anyway, this is a very deep field, and although Tiger warrants the ‘favourite’ tag, we feel there should not be as big a discrepancy at the top of the market. With a win on Sunday though, there won’t be a dry eye in the house in Orlando, and there won’t be a dry eye on the golf desk also.
Although he’s not in our selections below, it could just be written in the stars according to this stat:
If Tiger wins today, it will be his first title in 1,680 days. Phil's victory drought that ended last week: 1,687 days.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) March 11, 2018
Freaky, no? Anyway, here’s our fancies for the week:
Jason Day – 11/1
After a quiet 2017, J-Day has started this year in fine fettle. A second place in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am preceded a victory in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. A champion in 2016, we feel Day is in for a very big year and he can take this title en route to a big challenge at Augusta National.
Alex Noren – 25/1
Noren has also started off 2018 very well. Second to Day at the Farmers Insurance, he followed that up by coming third at the Honda Classic and then taking a 14th place finish at the WGC in Mexico. Bay Hill is a test of a players’ ball striking and it bodes well for Noren, with the burly Swede ranking sixth in strokes-gained tee-to-green over a 10 tournament span. With the wind also set to blow for most of the week, this will also play to his strengths.
Francesco Molinari Top 20 Finish 15/8
Molinari always enjoys a ball striking test. The Italian Stallion ranked fourth in strokes-gained tee-to-green in Mexico and his form figures of 34-5-17-9-7 round Bay Hill suggest he’s a decent bet to finish in the top 20 at 15/8.
Happy punting!
*All Prices correct at time of posting
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