The PGA TOUR got the Florida swing of the 2020-2021 season off to a hot start a week early this year with a relocated WGC event that was moved from Mexico to a new course at The Concession Golf Club just outside of Tampa. The elite field led to a star-studded leaderboard at the WGC-Workday Championship. Ultimately, though, Collin Morikawa ran away with the win, firing a five-under on Saturday and a three-under on Sunday with a dozen birdies and just four bogeys over those two rounds. He opened up that margin with a run of seven birdies over eight holes on Saturday and avoided big numbers throughout the week, finishing with six straight pars to cruise home with a three-stroke victory over Viktor Hovland ($10,600; +1200), Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel ($8,900; +3000).
24-year-old @Collin_Morikawa claims his fourth win @WGCWorkday.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 28, 2021
That's the most by anyone currently under 25. pic.twitter.com/WchEJBOsJK
This week, the PGA TOUR will return to a very familiar course just outside Orlando at The Bay Hill Club and Lodge, which is the annual stop for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The course has been owned by Palmer and his family since 1974, and this event has been held on this track every year since 1979. Beginning in 2017, the winner also gets a snazzy red cardigan in addition to the trophy as a special tribute to Arnie. It’s not quite a green jacket, but this is a prestigious tournament that is part of many of the top players’ buildup to The Masters, which looms on the horizon as the first major championship of the season just over a month away.
The course at Bay Hill is a par 72 that can play very difficult if the winds kick up as was the case last year. Only a single round under 70 was posted all weekend long in blustery conditions, and it was Englishman Tyrrell Hatton ($10,000; +1800) who escaped with the win last season with a final score of just four-under through four rounds. He was one of only four players under par for the week and held on for a one-stroke win over former champion Marc Leishman ($8,200; +5500). Sungjae Im ($9,700; +2500) and Bryson DeChambeau ($11,000; +1300) were the only other players under par for the week, rounding out the top four. Rory McIlroy ($11,500; +900) finished as one of four players tied for fifth, and he has won this event twice in his career. International players like Rory and Hatton have dominated this event lately with five straight wins since American Matt Every ($6,100; +60000) went back-to-back in 2014 and 2015.
Most years the course is a little more tameable with less wind. The winning score had been lower than 10-under in eight straight events before last year, and Rory got all the way to 18-under in 2018. Originally designed by Dick Wilson, the course was re-designed to its current set in 2009 under the watchful eye of Arnold Palmer himself. The golf course is known as a straightforward but true test of complete golf. Throughout the course, there is typical Florida mounding and bunkering along with some beautiful lakes adding both scenery and water hazards on several holes.
The format for this event is one of just five “invitationals” on the PGA TOUR, meaning the field is 120 players compared to most full-field open tournaments which have 156 players. There are three extra players added to the field this week for a total of 123 with Robert Gamez ($6,000; +250000), Paul Goydos ($6,000; +125000), and Tim Herron ($6,000; +125000) getting in as add-ons due to their previous victories at this event. Other previous champions with better odds in the field this week include Francesco Molinari ($8,700; +3500), Jason Day ($9,200; +3500) and Martin Laird ($6,400; +25000).
This week’s field isn’t quite as stacked as last week’s, but it still includes many of the top players in the world. The betting favorite is McIlroy on DraftKings Sportsbook based on his excellent course history and a sixth-place finish last week at The Concession Golf Club. Jordan Spieth ($9,300; +3000) will return to action after a week off following his strong run of results on the West Coast swing. Other big names in the field include two of last week’s runners-up in Hovland and Horschel along with several winners from earlier this season on the PGA TOUR including DeChambeau, Laird, Hudson Swafford ($6,300; +27500), Harris English ($8,300; +6000), Jason Kokrak ($8,100; +3500), Brian Gay ($6,200; +50000), Robert Streb ($6,000; +60000), Kevin Na ($8,000; +5500), Si Woo Kim ($7,500; +11000), Patrick Reed ($10,200; +1800), Max Homa ($8,500; +5500) and Branden Grace ($7,500; +11000), who won last week’s alternate-field event at the Puerto Rico Open with an eagle-birdie finish for an emotional win after losing his father just weeks ago to COVID-19.
As always at Bay Hill, it should be a great tournament, so make sure to get in on the action and enjoy a cold Arnold Palmer while we see who walks away with a nice red sweater to commemorate The King.
DraftKings is offering a number of ways you can get in on the golf action, starting with the PGA TOUR $800K Flop Shot [$200K to 1st] event. Flex your golf knowledge and create a six-man lineup for the opportunity to turn $15 into $200K for a first-place finish while a total of $800K will be awarded in prizes. You can also bet on the tournament at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Scroll down for a full stream of picks and previews!
— Analysis by Zach Thompson
2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational Playlist
2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational Details
- Host Course: Bay Hill Club & Lodge
- Location: Bay Hill, Florida
- Par: 72
- Yardage: 7,454
- Greens: Bermuda
- Broadcast: Golf Channel, NBC
DraftKings Sportsbook Notable Odds To Win
- Rory McIlroy (+900)
- Viktor Hovland (+1200)
- Bryson DeChambeau (+1300)
- Tyrrell Hatton (+1800)
- Patrick Reed (+1800)
- Paul Casey (+2500)
- Matthew Fitzpatrick (+2500)
- Louis Oosthuizen (+2500)
- Sungjae Im (+2500)
- Hideki Matsuyama (+2800)
- Billy Horschel (+3000)
- Jordan Spieth (+3000)
- Jason Day (+3500)
- Jason Kokrak (+3500)
- Francesco Molinari (+3500)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+4500)
- Sam Burns (+5000)
- Will Zalatoris (+5000)
- Max Homa (+5500)
- Marc Leishman (+5500)
- Kevin Na (+5500)
- Harris English (+6600)
- Lanto Griffin (+7000)
- Emiliano Grillo (+7000)
- Kevin Kisner (+7000)
- Justin Rose (+7000)
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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