The PGA TOUR returns to Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, the TOUR’s fourth designated event of 2023. World No. 1 Jon Rahm – with three wins in six TOUR starts this season – leads a star-studded field in Orlando.
44 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking are set to tee it up at Bay Hill – the most in any event since last year’s Open Championship … The field includes the top 30 on the FedExCup and all 13 TOUR winners so far this season … Scottie Scheffler returns to defend his 2022 title … Other Arnold Palmer Invitational winners returning to Bay Hill include Tyrrell Hatton (runner-up a year ago), Jason Day, Francesco Molinari and defending FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy … PGA TOUR University presented by Velocity Global is well-represented in the sponsor exemptions. The No. 1 player in the Class of 2022 and current No. 1 are both in the field. Pierceson Coody, who has won two of his first 15 Korn Ferry Tour starts since turning pro last summer, is in the field, one week after making the cut at The Honda Classic in his first PGA TOUR start as a pro. Ludvig Aberg, the current No. 1 in PGA TOUR U, is trying to extend his lead in the standings. The Texas Tech star arrives at Bay Hill after a win Feb. 22 at The Prestige in La Quinta, California. The top spot in PGA TOUR U is especially important this year, as the No. 1 player after the NCAA Championship will earn immediate status on the PGA TOUR and be eligible for all full-field, open events. Also in the field on a sponsor exemption is Cole Hammer, a teammate of Coody on the Texas team that won the 2022 NCAA Championship. Hammer, who finished fifth in last year’s class of PGA TOUR U grads, had a T5 finish late last year in The RSM Classic. Other players competing at Bay Hill on sponsor exemptions include major winners Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson and Padraig Harrington, as well as 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year Justin Suh. DP World Tour winners Adrian Meronk and Thriston Lawrence also received invitations.
