Stellar field at Arnold Palmer Invit

Edited by Anand Datla

March 17, 2015:

The cream of the PGA TOUR’s crop gets to rub elbows this week with one of the legends of the game at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard.

Matt Every held off Keegan Bradley a year ago to win the title. There are plenty of other talented players to watch this week at Bay Hill, and here are PGATOUR.COM’s top picks.

Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler: This group features three of the game’s top players in their 20s. The 25-year-old McIlroy is ranked No. 1 in the world, Day, who is 27, is fifth and the 26-year-old Fowler clocks in at 11th. McIlroy is making his debut at Bay Hill. Day won the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year while Fowler’s best finish of 2015 is a tie for 12th in his last start at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship.

Tee times: Rd. 1 — 12:56 p.m. ET off No. 1; Rd. 2 — 8:11 a.m. ET off No. 10

Graeme McDowell, Sean O’Hair, Ian Poulter: It’s a home game for McDowell and Poulter, who both live in the Orlando area. O’Hair has a comfort zone in Florida, too, though, after advancing to a playoff on Sunday at the valspar Championship, a tournament he won in 2009. McDowell has two runner-up finishes at Bay Hill and tied for 10th last year. Poulter’s best finish there is third in 2012 while O’Hair has three top-10s, including a tie for third in 2008 and second in 2009.

Tee times: Rd. 1 — 1:08 p.m. ET off No. 1; Rd. 2 — 8:23 a.m. ET off No. 10

Bubba Watson, Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott: Watson, a two-time Masters champ, is ranked No. 2 in the FedExCup and in the world. He won the World Golf Championships-HSBC Championship and has not finished lower than 14th in five starts this season. Scott, a new daddy who spent 11 weeks atop the world rankings, now clocks in at No. 4 and has two top-10s in three starts this season. The 24-year-old Koepka has been solid this season, posting a pair of top-10s in the fall and winning the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this year.

Tee times: Rd. 1 — 8:11 a.m. off No. 10; Rd. 2 — 12:56 p.m. ET off No. 1.

Henrik Stenson, Billy Horschel, Brandt Snedeker: This group features the last three FedExCup champions. Snedeker, who currently ranks 10th, is the only one of the group who has won this season after capturing the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for the second time. Stenson picked up some valuable FedExCup points with ties for fourth in his last two starts. Horschel, the reigning FedExCup champ, will be looking to gain some momentum at Bay Hill.

Tee times: Rd. 1 — 8:23 a.m. off No. 10; Rd. 2 — 1:08 p.m. ET off No. 1

Source: Helen Ross / PGA Tour