The PGA TOUR continues its Florida swing this week with the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Iconic Bay Hill Club and Lodge — better known as “Arnie’s Place” — will be the host course, and measures as a 7,466-yard par 72 with Bermuda grass greens.
We have another Signature Event on the schedule this week, and it will be quite similar to the Genesis a few weeks back. The field will consist of just 72 golfers, but there will be a 36-hole cut. Anyone inside the top-50 (and ties), along with anyone within 10 strokes of the leader will make the weekend.
Xander Schauffele will be making his return this week as well after missing the last two months with a rib injury.
Below, I have outlined three of my favorite DraftKings plays for the week.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $1M Sand Trap [$200K to 1st]
Justin Thomas ($9,400)
Thomas seems to have fully found his game after a couple down seasons. He’s opened the 2025 campaign with three top-nine finishes in five starts, which were on the heels of a T3 at the Hero World Challenge in December and T2 at the ZOZO in October.
His irons are absolutely cooking right now, as he ranks No. 1 in this field in SG: Approach over the past 24 rounds, which includes his masterclass at the Genesis two weeks ago where he gained a whopping 8.04 strokes in that department. Over that aforementioned 24-round stretch, JT also sits No. 1 in SG: Tee-to-Green and second behind Scottie Scheffler in Total Strokes Gained.
Thomas is as dialed in as we have seen in some time, and is absolutely going to win at some point this year. He hasn’t played this event very much in his career, but did finish T21 and T12 each of the past two years, proving he’s more than comfortable with the course layout.
I did not bother writing up Scheffler or Rory McIlroy in this spot because you already know to play them, but moving down a tier, Thomas is by far my favorite play in the $9k range. You can easily make the argument he’s $1,000 too cheap with the way he’s currently playing, so feel free to even start lineups with him this week if you so choose.
Shane Lowry ($8,200)
Lowry is another one who’s been playing some great golf to start the new year, finishing runner-up at Pebble Beach back in January, before going T11 at the Cognizant last week. He went nuclear with his irons at PGA National, gaining 5.8 strokes on approach across his final two rounds.
Weirdly enough, Lowry’s history at Bay Hill was always quite poor, as he missed the cut in four of his first five starts at the API. Something clicked for him last year, however, as he went on to finish third behind Scottie Scheffler and Wyndham Clark, which was by far his best career-finish to date.
It never made sense as to why the 2019 Open champ struggled at Arnie’s Place, as it usually plays as close to a major as a standard PGA TOUR event could, and his history at majors has always been strong. Whatever the case, it seems he’s figured something out, and then when you factor in the way he’s hitting the ball right now, he’s absolutely a threat to win this week.
Sign me up at $8,200.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout ($6,500)
Bezuidenhout is a professional cut-maker and is simply too cheap in a spot where over 70% of the field will be playing the weekend. The South African is coming off a T42 at the Cognizant Classic last week, where he shot two rounds in the 60s, including a final-round 67.
Bez actually gained strokes off-the-tee at PGA National, which is usually a big time weakness for him. That absolutely bodes well for his chances as he heads to one of the stiffest tee-to-green tests on the PGA TOUR in Bay Hill. His history here is quite strong, having posted three top-20 finishes in a row from 2020-2022, including a solo seventh in that stretch. Keep in mind that before last year this tournament was a full-field 140+ golfer event, which makes Bezuidenhout’s record here that much more impressive.
I like to target Bez at courses where scoring is at a premium, because he’s not the most robust of birdie makers. However, he boasts one of the best short-games in the world, and is an elite putter, especially on Bermuda grass. At just $6,500, he fits into any lineup construction you like and should be close to a lock to play the weekend.