The 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational tees off this week from Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida. This is one of the PGA TOUR’s signature events, which means that the field will include the TOUR’s top golfers competing for an increased prize purse. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Viktor Hovland headline the field.
How do golfers qualify for signature events?
The top 50 players from the previous season’s FedExCup points standings qualify for every signature event in the following season, which makes up the majority of the field. The top 10 players in the current FedExCup standings upon the start of the tournament are also invited as the Aon Next 10, as are the top five earners from the stretch between the end of one Signature Event to the start of the next as the Aon Swing 5.
For the Arnold Palmer, this exemption would take the top five earners in tournaments following the Genesis Invitational, which took place in mid-February.
Current-year tournament winners and the 30 top-ranked OWGR golfers are also included in every signature event field, so long as they are PGA TOUR members. There are also a few sponsor exemptions, and at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the amateur winner of the Palmer Cup Award gets an exemption as well.
Here is the full field of the Arnold Palmer Invitational and how they qualified.
Arnold Palmer Exemptions
| Golfer | Qualification |
|---|---|
| Golfer | Qualification |
| Ludvig Aberg | Aon Next 10 |
| Byeong Hun An | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Christiaan Bezuidenhout | Aon Next 10 |
| Keegan Bradley | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Sam Burns | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Patrick Cantlay | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Wydnham Clark | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Eric Cole | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Corey Conners | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Cam Davis | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Jason Day | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Nick Dunlap | Current year tournament winner |
| Austin Eckroat | Aon Next 10 |
| Harris English | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| David Ford | Unrestricted exemption |
| Rickie Fowler | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Lucas Glover | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Emiliano Grillo | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Adam Hadwin | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Brian Harman | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Russell Henley | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Lee Hodges | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Tom Hoge | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Nicolai Hojgaard | Sponsor exemption |
| Max Homa | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Viktor Hovland | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Mackenzie Hughes | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Sungjae Im | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Stephen Jaeger | Aon Swing 5 |
| Si Woo Kim | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Tom Kim | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Chris Kirk | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Kurt Kitayama | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Jake Knapp | Aon Next 10 |
| Min Woo Lee | Aon Swing 5 |
| Luke List | Aon Next 10 |
| Justin Lower | Aon Swing 5 |
| Shane Lowry | Sponsor exemption |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Denny McCarthy | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Rory McIlroy | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Taylor Moore | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Collin Morikawa | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Grayson Murray | Aon Next 10 |
| CT Pan | Aon Swing 5 |
| Matthieu Pavon | Aon Next 10 |
| JT Poston | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Seamus Power | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Andrew Putnam | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Patrick Rodgers | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Justin Rose | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Xander Schauffele | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Scottie Scheffler | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Adam Schenk | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Adam Scott | Sponsor exemption |
| Webb Simpson | Sponsor exemption |
| Jordan Spieth | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Sepp Straka | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Adam Svensson | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Nick Taylor | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Sahith Theegala | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Justin Thomas | Aon Next 10 |
| Brendon Todd | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Sami Valimaki | Aon Swing 5 |
| Erik van Rooyen | Aon Next 10 |
| Cameron Young | 2023 FexExCup Top 50 |
| Will Zalatoris | Aon Next 10 |