5 Things to Know about the 2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational

The Arnold Palmer Invitational has been a staple on the PGA Tour since 1966, and ever since Palmer became the host and moved the event to Bay Hill Country Club in 1979 it's routinely featured one of the strongest non-Major fields of the year. 

 

Originally known as the Florida Citrus Open, the API is one of just five tournaments with invitational status, and for the first time is part of the Open Qualifying Series (OQS), offering three spots in the 2019 Open Championship to the top players (not otherwise exempt) who finish in the top 10 and ties. 

Gone are the scenes of The King cruising around the course in his personal golf cart since his passing almost two-and-one-half years ago.  However even without their general, Arnie’s Army will be out in full force this week.  Here are five things you need to know about this year's API. 

Number 5 

Meant to be McIlroy 

After entering the final round two shots off the lead, Rory McIlroy birdied five of his last six holes en route to a bogey-free 64 and three-shot victory over Bryson DeChambeau.  The victory was McIlroy's 14th of his career, with number 13 coming on September 25, 2016, the same day Arnold Palmer passed away. 

 

Rory became the third player in the modern era with 14 wins by age 30, joining Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.  And for the week at Bay Hill, McIlroy set career-best marks in total putts (100) and Strokes Gained: Putting (10.027).  If ever a win was meant to be, Rory's victory here last year would be it. 

Number 4 
Player Notes 
Six of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) are in the field, led by Justin Rose (2), Brooks Koepka (3), Bryson DeChambeau (5), Rory McIlroy (6), Rickie Fowler (7), and Francesco Molinari (10).  Fowler will make his eighth start at Bay Hill this week (with a previous best finish of T-3 in 2013), and being here clearly means a lot to Rickie.  

 

Fowler said, 

"I want to be more and more like Arnold.  He kind of set the bar for what I want to do.  It's not just in the game of golf but leaving a legacy of changing people's lives for the better." 

2016 API champion Jason Day will make his ninth start here (his victory in 2016 being the only time he finished top-10).  Bubba Watson makes his 12th start (with top-10 finishes in 2012 and 2008).  Ernie Els will tee it up at Bay Hill for the 24th time.  While Phil Mickelson (1997 API champion) returns for the first time since 2013.  Mickelson has also finished runner up at Bay Hill in 2001 and was T-3 in 2002. 

Number 3 
Aon Risk Reward Challenge 
The season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge highlights the world's best professional golfers as they tackle the most strategically challenging holes on the PGA and LPGA Tours.  Players will take their best two scores from each Aon Risk Reward Challenge hole, with the winners having the best average score to par at the end of the regular season and earning a $1 million prize.  You can view the Aon Risk Reward Challenge leaderboard here. 

 

This week's Aon Risk Reward Challenge hole is the 511-yard, par-5 16th hole.  Since 2014, No. 16 has produced 121 total eagles (77 more than the rest of the entire course).  Hitting the fairway with a long tee shot yields the best opportunity for players to take advantage of this hole.  Last year's champion Rory Mcllroy played the 16th hole a combined 2-under, and his 373-yard final-round drive was the longest on this hole since 2003. 

Number 2 
Leading Man 
Arnold Palmer's magnetic personality and bold style of play combined to make him one of golf's greatest players, the sport's most revered figure, and the most influential athlete of his generation.  Palmer won 62 times on Tour (including seven major championships), rising from his modest Western Pennsylvania roots to become a towering figure that transformed and transcended the sport of golf. 

 

Mr. Palmer's first Tour win came at the Canadian Open in 1955, just as America's fascination with television was exploding.  Television sets in U.S. homes numbered only 3.8 million in 1950, but went up to almost 46 million by 1960, and Palmer’s go-for-broke style made him the ideal leading man for the new medium.  Arnie jumped off the small screen with a winning smile, affable manner, and bare-knuckled athleticism. 

Number 1 
Forever The King 
Palmer produced drama and very large audiences.  Hall of Fame player Gene Littler once said, "When Arnie hits the ball, the earth shakes."  And those tremors were far-reaching.  Palmer became a hit with Hollywood's biggest stars and show business icons like John Wayne, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra. 

The King was friendly with 10 U.S. Presidents from Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush (and played golf with six of them - Eisenhower, George H.W. Bush, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton). Arnie is the only golfer to receive both the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. 

 

However Palmer never lost sight of his humble background.  And his plain-spoken popularity changed the perception of golf as an elite, upper-class pastime to a more populist sport accessible to the middle and working classes.  Palmer's social impact on behalf of golf was unrivaled, and though he may be gone, he will never be forgotten.  

Thank you Mr. Palmer.