🏌️ 5 Best Ball Striking Drills

Good Morning. Top players tee off today at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Bay Hill - check out our top picks below we’re betting on!

Fun fact: The 18th hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational has produced a lot of drama over the years - but, there hasn’t been a playoff at this event since 1999, when Tim Herron defeated Tom Lehman. That is in fact, the only playoff at this event since 1990.

⛳ This day in history: On this date in 1993, Greg Norman finished with a 15-under-par 273 total to win the Doral-Ryder Open on the Blue Monster course in Miami. It set a course record at the time, later to be eclipsed by Tiger Woods' 264 in 2005 prior to the tournament becoming a World Golf Championship event.

ODDS AND PICKS
Our Top Picks For Arnold Palmer Invitational

🚩 The course, a par 72 that measures approximately 7,466 yards, features large, wide fairways with minimal rough but includes a significant number of bunkers that come into play on nine of the 18 holes.

Here are our top picks we’re betting on:

🚀 Most Likely to Win: Rory McIlroy has consistently been one of the top performers in the field, and his previous successes at Bay Hill make him a strong candidate.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 5: Jordan Spieth is positioned as one of the contenders to finish in the Top 5, if not going on to win the tournament.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 10: Jason Day is a strong contender for a top 5 finish. His recent form includes two consecutive top nine finishes, and he ranks well in driving distance, par four scoring, and strokes gained around the green. Day's history at Bay Hill and his 10th place finish in 2023 solidify his potential​​.

🚀 Key Player in the Top 20: Byeong Hun An, with four top 21 finishes in his last six PGA Tour events, including a second-place at the 2024 Sentry in January, is a strong contender for the top 20. An's game, particularly his strokes gained off the tee and tee to green, aligns well with the challenges presented by Bay Hill​​.

🚀 Underdog Likely to Emerge: Collin Morikawa, despite being a well-known player, has the potential to emerge as the tournament winner, leveraging his precision and iron play to navigate the challenges of Bay Hill.

ALBATROSS
5 Biggest Revelations From Netflix’s Full Swing 2

Full Swing Season 2 is an eight-episode dash through last year’s professional golf season - here are the top five highlights from the show.

🤖 Rory's Reboot: McIlroy missed cut at the Masters and failed to win any other major which left him frustrated and bemoaning at his inability to win tournaments.

🚫 Joel's Resistance: Joel Dahmen’s caddie, Geno Bonnalie, is shown making every effort to set Dahmen up with a sports psychologist. Even as he continues to self-destruct on the golf course, Dahmen is resistant.

👨 Tommy Boy: Arguably the funniest moment of the show is when Scheffler reminds Tom Kim that he parked in a spot reserved only for green-jacket winners at the Augusta National.

🔻 Keegan Snub: Keegan Bradley and his family were on camera when US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson called him to let him know that he wasn't selected. The reaction was priceless.

🤯 Hat Gate Sound: The furious exchange between Shane Lowry and Joe LaCava was captured in full by the Netflix cameras - drama at its peak.

TWEET
Worth Mentioning

EAGLE
The Open's Gift To LIV Golf

The R&A has made multiple adjustments to the qualification criteria ahead of the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon and they will be in effect from 2024.

What Are The Changes? 

🚨 Previously, any player who won the Open was exempt into all future Opens until the age of 60. Not anymore. Beginning this year, new winners will only be exempt until the age of 55.

🚨 A new exemption category will be created for the top-5 finishers in the International Federation Ranking list, which is operated by the Official World Golf Ranking.

🚨 The R&A also announced a new exemption for the Africa Amateur champion. Altin van der Merwe, who won the inaugural Africa Amateur this year, is the first to earn that exemption.

How Will LIV Golf Benefit?

✅ Players can now qualify through the International Federation Ranking list - multiple LIV Golfers who compete on the Asian Tour stand a real chance to qualify.

✅ LIV Golfer Andy Ogletree is currently No 1 on the Asian Tour and has officially secured his place following this adjustment.

✅ More LIV Golf players are likely to secure spots in the future through various other tours like the Japan Golf Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour.

LOCKER ROOM
What else is making news

LPGA Tour: Australia's Minjee Lee leads by one shot after Round 1 of the Blue Bay LPGA tournament in China.

PGA Tour: PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan appointed CEO, Tiger Woods named vice-chairman of the PGA Tour Enterprises. Find out who else made it to the Board of Directors.

Viktor Hovland: Golf's rising star Viktor Hovland is heading into the Arnold Palmer Invitational with changes to his swing and a new coach - Grant Waite.

Jon Rahm: Reigning Masters Champion Jon Rahm suggests that 2023 LIV Golf Individual victor Talor Gooch should at least be "under consideration" for special invites to the Majors this season.

TV Ratings: The LIV Golf Jeddah event saw a TV ratings total of over 221K on Saturday and 195K on Sunday. These figures do not include streaming metrics.

BIRDIE
Best Players At The Arnold Palmer Invitational

The Arnold Palmer Invitational tees off today - let us take a look at the players with some of the best course history at Bay Hill over the last five seasons.

🏌️Scottie Scheffler: Scheffler has made just three starts at this tournament and notably won it in 2022.

His finishes: T-4 (2023), 1st (2022) and T-15 (2020).

🏌️Rory McIlroy: McIlroy has been thoroughly consistent over the years but never managed to win the tournament.

His finishes: T-2 (2023), T-13 (2022), T-10 (2021), T-5 (2020) and T-6 (2019).

🏌️Matt Fitzpatrick: Fitzpatrick finished 2nd in 2019 and has consistently done well over the last five seasons.

His finishes: T-14 (2023), T-9 (2022), T-10 (2021), T-9 (2020) and 2nd (2019).

🏌️ Sungjae Im: Im makes this list despite not winning the title because of his impeccable consistency.

His finishes: T-21 (2023), T-20 (2022), T-21 (2021), 3rd (2020) and T-3 (2019).

🏌️Jordan Spieth: Spieth has made only two starts at this tournament in the last five years.

His finishes: T-4 (2023) and T-4 (2021).

DRIVING RANGE
5 Best Ball Striking Drills

In this video, Ged Walters will help you with your angle of attack and weight transfer to improve the quality of your striking.

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