2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational: PGA Tour Betting Odds
The PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando always draws a top-notch field due to the event’s namesake, and it’s no different this week. Jon Rahm is a +500 favourite to win on the golf odds.
A total of 27 of the world’s top 30 golfers and 44 of its top 50 are set to play this week – obviously excluding any members of the LIV Series who still are in the Top 50. No tournament has featured more top 50 players since the 2022 British Open at historic St. Andrews. The top 30 players in the FedExCup standings are all playing, including the 13 winners on tour this season. Tiger Woods isn’t near the top 50 but sitting out due to his very limited schedule post-injury.
This is another elevated event with the purse raised to $20 million and the field is a bit smaller because it’s an invitational. Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge again is the host, a par 72 at around 7,460 yards. It’s quite flat but there’s plenty of water. The 2022 final-round scoring average was 75.48. Wind/weather definitely will play a major role here as Tiger holds the tournament record of 19 under in 2003 but in two of the past three years, 5 and 4 under both won.
American Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion as he shot 5-under 283 to beat out Tyrrell Hatton, Billy Horschel and Viktor Hovland by a shot last year. The final-round scoring conditions were extremely tough and Scheffler’s even par was enough. Only 10 players finished the entire tournament under par. Hovland was tied for the lead until a bogey on the 17th. He missed a birdie putt on No. 18 to force a playoff. Rather strangely, there hasn’t been a playoff here since 1999.
Arnold Palmer Invitational Golf Odds
World No. 1 Jon Rahm is the +500 favourite and can join Fred Couples, Ernie Els and Hale Irwin as the only players to win the PGA Tour’s three elevated, player-hosted invitationals: Tiger Woods’ The Genesis Invitational, the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament. Rahm won The Genesis earlier this month and the Memorial in 2020. Rahm played this event last year for the first time and was T17.
Rory McIlroy is +800 with defending champion Scottie Scheffler +900. McIlroy won here in 2018 and hasn’t been worse than T13 since, playing every year. Prior to winning here last year, Scheffler had played the Arnold Palmer Invitational once, a T25 in 2020. The least repeat winner was relative unknown Matt Every in 2015.
Max Homa is +1500 with Collin Morikawa +1700 and Justin Thomas +1900. Homa’s best result here is T10, with Morikawa’s a T9 and Thomas a T49 when he last played back in 2015. Chris Kirk, who won the Honda Classic on Sunday down the Atlantic coast of Florida, is +5400. He has been Top 5 here the past two years.
No Canadian has won this event, which dates to 1966. George Knudson was a co-runner-up in 1967. Corey Conners was the top Canadian finisher last year at T11, with Nick Taylor T32 and Taylor Pendrith T42, while Adam Svensson missed the cut. Conners is +6500 this week with Adam Hadwin +7900, Taylor +8900, Svensson +24900 and Mackenzie Hughes +29900.
Arnold Palmer Invitational Golf Prediction
We’ll simply take an American to win at -133. We don’t get McIlroy or Rahm but several of the next best players in the field.