The PGA Tour stays in Florida this week, with the famed Bay Hill course hosting the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The absence of Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas means Rory McIlroy is back at the top of the market this week, and it will be fascinating to see how the Northern Irish star plays at a course he really enjoys. We like Rory and are tempted, but at 8/1 we’ll pass and look for better value elsewhere.
We were keen on Viktor Hovland last week, and the young Norwegian played very well (let’s gloss over his quadruple bogey 8 on the final hole of the second round). We’re tempted to go down the same route again this week, but we’re worried about some a young player finding himself in the heat of battle again.
Only two Americans – Tiger Woods and Matt Every – have won this event since 2006, and we’re going to side with foreign talent. Matthew Fitzpatrick has been consistently solid, and must be very close to a PGA Tour breakthrough. The young Englishman was runner-up here in 2019, and we’ll take a punt that he goes one better this week.
Our second selection is an old favourite, Sungjae Im. The South Korean clearly prefers the conditions in Florida to the west coast, having finished third here at Bay Hill the last two years. He loves this tournament and should be a serious title contender if his putter behaves.
Recommendations:
Fitzpatrick to win, 1 pt, at 22/1, widely available
Im to win, 1 pt, at 22/1, widely available
