Arnold Palmer Invitational
Written by: Ian Robins
Review of Last Week:
Last week we saw a true test of mental and golf fortitude at the Honda Classic, as Sepp Straka outlasted Shane Lowry in the final few holes to take his first career title. 54 hole leader, Daniel Berger gave up his 5 shot lead early on Sunday and fell victim to the kind of big numbers PGA National can cause you to shoot. It was a fun sweat for The Line Movers, as we were behind Shane Lowry, but ultimately just fell short of victory. The tour stays in Florida for the next few weeks as we lead to some big time tourneys
The Course:
The PGA Tour stays in Florida as we move north to Bay Hill Country Club just outside of Orlando. This course is long at 7400 yards for a par 72. It plays long as well with many trees and water that come into play. The rough plays are very thick and the greens are firm and fast bermuda. The wind can also play a factor here as the weather becomes very unpredictable day to day in the heat of central Florida. Rain will make the course plays slightly easier if it softens up the greens, if the tournament is dry, expect a very tough tourney.
Top tier:
The top tier starts with Jon Rahm and ends with Rory Mcilroy. Rahm is the number 1 player in the world coming off his worst performance in almost a year, finishing T21 a few weeks ago. Despite the incredible finishes for Rahm, he has gone a long time without a win. He is a safe play for DFS, but a little too short to play outright. Rory Mcilroy is arguably the best player on this course and has been playing fantastic worldwide. Rory’s game fits the course perfectly and his past results have shown. I expect Rory to show up well this week and continue his nice run of form.
Mid-range:
The middle tier of the betting board sees some very talented golfers in great form. Paul Casey has been tremendous recently and plays tough courses extremely well. Keith Mithcell has been one of the best and most consistent pliers in the past month and historically excels at this course. His driving ability and current form should put him right in the mix. Gary Woodland has been playing much better the past few tournaments and finished inside the top 10 last week. He is a former US Open winner, which is the type of player I am hoping to back, could provide value in this tourney as well.
Long shots:
There are some extremely talented players, world wide winners, that have some very large prices next to their name. SOme of these players will be worthy to contend right now based on their talent and current form. Others will be names to keep in mind down the road, but all the names I will mention will likely never be priced like this again in a non major. Cam Young, Sebastian Munoz, and Taylor Pendrith are in great form, big hitters, and players ready to contend now. Garrick Higgo is starting to find some form and fits the course well. Nicolai Hojgaard and Takumi Kanaya are some of the best young talents in the world and have dominated their respective tours. All these names are worth a sprinkle to monitor.
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