For the second of four straight events in Florida, we head to Bay Hill Club and Lodge (par 72, 7,466 yards, Bermuda greens) in Orlando for the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Bay Hill has hosted this tournament since 1979 and Russell Henley (-11) is the defending champion. As a Signature Event, there is a $20 million purse at stake this week. There will be 72 golfers competing and after the first two rounds, there will be a cut with the top-50 and ties and any player within 10 shots of the lead advancing.
Below, I dive into three of my favorite DFS options on DraftKings for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $300K Drive the Green [$30K to 1st]
Collin Morikawa ($9,600)
Morikawa finished T9th at Bay Hill in 2020 and nearly won at this venue last season. Morikawa was the leader of the Arnold Palmer Invitational after the third round, but a final round of an even par 72 resulted in Morikawa finishing runner-up to Henley by just one shot. Morikawa will be out for redemption in his return to Bay Hill this week and is in much better form heading into this event than he was a year ago.
Prior to last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, Morikawa finished T17th in each of his previous two starts. This year, the Berkley graduate has won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and finished T7th at the Genesis Invitational in his two starts leading up to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, both of which were also Signature Events.
Morikawa’s victory at Pebble Beach snapped a near three-year drought without a win, and this season, he ranks sixth on the PGA TOUR in SG APP. Three of the last five winners at Bay Hill have finished the event top-12 in SG APP, so if Morikawa can find some luck with his putter this week, he should contend for his second win of the season.
Ludvig Aberg ($8,400)
Aberg has finished inside the top-25 in all three of his visits to Bay Hill. After a questionable start to the season, the Swede’s game appears to be trending in the right direction. After opening his season with a withdrawal and missed cut, Aberg has finished T37th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and T20th at the Genesis Invitational in his last two starts.
During that latter finish at Riviera CC, Aberg started the week with a 1-over 72, but then he shot under par in each of his final three rounds, most notably with a 5-under 66 to close the event. Aberg gained strokes in every major category for the tournament, which is the first time he has done so since his T7 at the BMW Championship in August.
Looking to carry this momentum over to Bay Hill, Aberg is an excellent bargain at only $8,400, which is simply too low for the two-time PGA TOUR winner who was a top-five ranked player in the world less than a year ago.
Adam Scott ($7,800)
Scott has never won at Bay Hill, but he has come very close with third-place finishes in 2004 and 2014. Scott caught fire in 2014, posting a 10-under 62 in the first round, which is tied for the course record at Bay Hill. That number is also one stroke shy of Scott’s career-low. The elite ball striker knows how to navigate this tough course very well and is fresh off a fourth place finish at the Genesis Invitational, marking his third top-seven finish in his last six starts worldwide.
Scott gained strokes across the board at Riviera CC and carded an 8-under 63 in the second and final round of the event. No player of this world-class field shot a lower number all week. Scott did it twice.
The former Masters champion’s game is clearly in a great place right now and is an awesome option at this sub-$8,000 salary. Scott ranks 13th in proximity to the hole on approach shots from 200+ yards this season, setting him up perfectly for his return to Bay Hill. Over the last five years, 24.6% of approach shots at this Florida track have come from 200+ yards.
