Following Adam Hadwin's impressive W at the Valspar Championship, the PGA Tour stays in Florida for this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando Florida.
Course
Bay Hill Golf Club and Lodge: 7,419 yards, par 72
Players will be greeted by four par-5s and four par-3s of over 200 yards. Bunkering and narrowness off many tees make strategic strikes off the tee box paramount. The rough is plenty juicy with fairways that are more than happy to send a ball careening into the long stuff. Simply, golfers must control the ball off the tee.
Average-sized greens are well-bunkered and feature plenty of slopes. Bay Hill switched to TifEagle bermudagrass last year and Jason Day was able to get it to 17-under par, the second-lowest total to par since 2004.
Total driving (good combination of distance of accuracy) Iron play from 150+ yards out. All par-3s are more than 200 yards, so pay particular attention to that range, and, heck, Iron play generally. Scrambling ability can't be counted out either.
Creme De La Creme
Henrik Stenson: $11,500
$500 cheaper than Rory McIlroy, you have to take a change with the Swede this week. We'll hope he's fully recovered from the stomach bug that sidelined him in Mexico, and judging from his T7 finish at the Valspar last week, he's doing OK. Other than the WD, steady Stens has finished in the top 10 nine times in his last 10 starts. He's also finished inside the top 10 in his last four starts at Bay Hill. Need more support? Stenson picked up 1.243 strokes on the competition with his approach play last year, hitting a ridiculous 72.1 percent of greens in regulation.
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