Tag: 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational

Bryson DeChambeau might not be at Bay Hill this year, but we’re still judging his style from last year’s event (when he won)

“Unless you are helping schoolchildren cross the street or a drum major on a high school marching band, no white belts.”

Unfortunately, Bryson DeChambeau, winner of the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, announced earlier this week that he would not be playing in this year’s event due to injury. But that doesn’t mean we can’t take a quick look back at his style from last year’s tournament, right?

What worked? What didn’t?

In 2016, DeChambeau signed with Cobra Puma Golf and has been sporting the company’s apparel at every event since. While he wears the brand well, some of his accessories are controversial.

We asked Golfweek’s followers on Instagram if they’re a fan of DeChambeau’s Ben Hogan cap and the results pointed to a clear answer. 71% of our followers who participated in the survey said they were not in favor of the hat.

Bryson DeChambeau at Arnold Palmer Invitational
Instagram story Bryson DeChambeau at Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

DeChambeau frequently sports a white belt in tournament play and former fashion director at Golf Digest (now retired) Marty Hackel explained his stance on white belts. DeChambeau fits in Hackel’s criteria for being permitted to wear a white belt.

“Unless you are helping schoolchildren cross the street or a drum major on a high school marching band, no white belts. Sorry, matching your belt to your shoes makes no sense, and if all else fails the Rule of 36 is applicable,” said Hackel. “If you are older than 36 or your waist is over 36 inches, no white belts. The only possible exception to this rule is if you are wearing white pants.”

Bryson third day API
Bryson DeChambeau during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by MasterCard at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Despite a few faux pas, we’re loving this look DeChambeau sported on the third day of play in last year’s API. Always a good idea to match your hat to your trousers. Black shoes and black pants with a brighter polo makes this a well-balanced look. His polo has Arnold Palmer’s signature drink and fits the week’s theme. DeChambeau looks clean and ready to win in this look.

Bryson DeChambeau’s golf shoes: From $149.99 at GlobalGolf
Bryson DeChambeau’s golf pants: From $85 at PGA Tour Superstore
Bryson DeChambeau’s golf cap: From $39.99 at PGA Tour Superstore
Bryson DeChambeau’s golf belt: From $20 at Cobra Golf
Other Bryson DeChambeau golf apparel: From $38 at Cobra Golf

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How much money the Top 10 PGA Tour players won at the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Check out how much money the Top 10 finishers earned this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Check out how much money the Top 10 finishers earned this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Inspired by Arnie and Tiger Woods, Bryson DeChambeau puts on a show in winning Arnold Palmer Invitat

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak recaps Bryson DeChambeau’s win from Bay Hill at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak recaps Bryson DeChambeau’s win from Bay Hill at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Jordan Spieth on his sloppy Bay Hill finish: ‘I kind of want to go break something’

Spieth recorded his third top-5 finish in his last four starts, but shot 76 on Sunday and remains winless since 2017.

Jordan Spieth’s debut performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational ended with a thud – three bogeys and a three-putt par at 16 in his final four holes to shoot 3-over 75.

“I kind of want to go break something,” said Spieth, who finished tied for fourth at 6-under 282 at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando.

But in nearly the next breath, he was able to look at the bigger picture and a realization that he had recorded just three top-5 finishes in 34 months leading into the Waste Management Phoenix Open last month. Since then, Spieth has recorded three top-5 finishes in his last four starts (with the other being a T-15 at the Genesis Invitational).

“I made a step in the right direction today, regardless of the result,” Spieth said.

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos

At some point, these moral victories will grow old. Spieth still is in the midst of piecing together a dependable golf swing. The errors off the tee, such as the smother-hooked tee shot on No. 3 on Saturday, are still costing him valuable strokes. Spieth ranked 50th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-tee. He lost nearly two strokes to the field off the tee on Saturday and somehow managed to shoot 68. But unless he can continue to be unconscious around and on the greens, his winless drought will continue.

Spieth made 141 feet of putts in the third round. It was a beautiful thing to see. But it also proved to be unsustainable. Nobody can be unconscious with the putter for four rounds and on Sunday his putter let him down. Spieth lost nearly two strokes to the field on the green on Sunday, ranking 64th of the 72 players to make the cut. That’s not how you end a winless streak dating to the 2017 British Open.

“I just wasn’t my day,” Spieth said. “I mean, I hit right lip, left lip, high lip, low lip. I mean it was — greens got super crusty and it was just, I mean the couple that I made I thought I missed and the ones I thought I made I missed. It was weird.”

He missed a 5-foot par putt at the third hole, but bounced back with birdies on both of the par-5s — Nos. 4 and 6 — and momentarily held a share of the lead at 9 under. He made a bogey at 8, but was still hanging around until his tough finish.

“I thought I played better today than I did any of those Sundays,” Spieth said, referring to Phoenix and Pebble Beach, where he held or shared the 54-hole lead. “At the beginning of the day if you told me I was going to be even through 10 and be in, hit driver in the middle of the fairway on 11 and on 12, I would have thought I was going to win the golf tournament.”

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Spieth settled for par at both the 11th and 12th and the final dagger in his heart was taking three putts from 58 feet at the par-5 16th hole after having a wedge for his second shot. Spieth explained that the green was nearly impossible to hold.

“I ended up in a really tough spot to have to putt from along a crown,” he said.

Spieth’s final-round 75 beat the field average on a day when only three golfers, including champion Bryson DeChambeau, broke par. Likewise, not all 68s are created equal and what Spieth did on Saturday to climb into contention was spectacular at times. He made a hole-in-one at the second hole, dropped a bunker shot at No. 7 for birdie and holed a series of big putts. It was magic, but he still needs to finish rounds and close the deal.

Spieth is getting closer thanks to an improved approach game, and the number of people who believe it’s a matter not of if he wins again, but when he gets back into the winner’s circle is growing. Most importantly, the three-time major champ’s self-confidence is growing by leaps and bounds.

“I put the ball exactly where I wanted to on just about every single shot and putt and it came out to 75 somehow,” concluded Spieth, overlooking the fact that he hit only half the fairways and greens on Sunday. “But that’s not going to happen every time, if I do, if I play the way I did today. It’s going to be really good going forward.”

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Bryson DeChambeau blasts 377-yard drive at No. 6 on Sunday at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Bryson DeChambeau blasted a 377-yard drive on the par-5 sixth hole at Bay Hill Club & Lodge on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Arnold Palmer must have loved looking down and seeing the Bryson DeChambeau long-drive show this week.

Palmer, who famously drove the green at the par-4 first hole in the final round of the 1960 U.S. Open en route to victory, lived to go for broke and his advice for competitors at the tournament bearing his name was to play boldly.

One day after DeChambeau dazzled fans with a 370-yard blast at the par-5, sixth hole at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, he crushed one even farther.

This time, DeChambeau took two deep breaths and smashed driver 377 yards. His ball cleared the water at the double-dogleg easily and bounced through the fairway into a fairway bunker. He had 88 yards left to the hole.

That was 50 yards longer than the previous longest drive on Sunday, a 327-yard poke by Brendan Steele.

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos

Lee Westwood had the unenviable task of following DeChambeau’s blast and hit one 306 yards along a safer line, leaving him 256 yards from the hole. That was only 168 yards farther from the hole than DeChambeau. Westwood celebrated being dry off the tee by raising both arms to the sky, mimicking DeChambeau’s celebration on Saturday. As he walked up the fairway, Westwood knocked knuckles with DeChambeau.

Architect Dick Wilson created one of the great risk-reward par-5s, where competitors get to choose how much of the water they want to bite off. The farther left you aim, the shorter the approach shot. However, the sixth hole can bite both ways.

A few groups earlier, Rory McIlroy, 7 under at the time and still in the thick of the trophy hunt, rinsed two tee shots in the water. The Northern Irishman is one of the best drivers of the ball in golf and he had smoked one 361 yards on Saturday. He had enough in the tank to nearly match DeChambeau, but under the gun on Sunday, he fired multiple blanks. McIlroy did hit his third tee shot 324 yards and stick his sixth shot close and salvaged a double bogey, but it essentially ended his hopes of becoming a two-time champ at Arnie’s place.

As much as DeChambeau’s power game stole the show this week, he failed to fully take advantage of his prodigious drive. He came up short of the green with his second shot, just as he had the day before. But he pitched to 4 feet and converted for the birdie to keep pace with Westwood, and remain tied for the lead at 11 under.

DeChambeau never did aim for the sixth green during the tournament, which would have required a carry of 342 yards. But he recorded three birdies on the hole, taking advantage of his power and whipping the reduced crowds this week at Bay Hill into a frenzy.

The sixth hole at Bay Hill showed once again why it is one of the coolest holes on the PGA Tour. It gave us Victor Perez making an 11 on Saturday and DeChambeau’s smoke show. Arnie would’ve loved every bit of it.

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Steve Stricker talks Tiger Woods, Ryder Cup plans at Arnold Palmer Invitational

After wearing red and black on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Steve Stricker dished on Tiger Woods and his Ryder Cup plans.

ORLANDO, Fla. – United States Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker wore red and black in Sunday’s final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational to show support for Tiger Woods and hopefully replicate some of the magic the best player of his generation unleashed in winning a record eight times at Bay Hill.

“It didn’t do me (expletive),” Stricker said with a smile. “I didn’t make a birdie.”

After signing for a 5-over-par 77, Stricker talked about his captaincy duties and Woods, who is recovering in a Los Angeles hospital following a horrific single-vehicle rollover crash that left him with serious injuries in his right leg, ankle and foot.

“Obviously he’s a friend of mine. I’m trying to keep up on what’s going on with him. I haven’t heard too much lately,” Stricker said. “We’re all pulling for him.

“We’re thankful that he’s alive. I don’t know who said it, but that his kids continue to have a father. Something even more tragic could have come from that.”

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Stricker said he’s “not going to go down that road now,” when asked if he’s given thought to adding Woods as a vice captain for the matches against Europe this September at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. Stricker has three vice captains – Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Davis Love III – and will likely add two more.

“I’d love to have him around. I’m hoping in one way, shape or form,” Stricker said. “But it’s too early to kind of commit to anything.”

Stricker did say he has ramped up his work for the Ryder Cup.

“We’re starting to talk about players and look at the guys who are playing well,” he said. “We still have a long time. Four majors left, which are worth more. It’s hard not to pay attention to guys who are playing well.

“(Collin) Morikawa winning last week. Seeing Jordan (Spieth) play well. This is probably the fourth tournament in a row he’s played well. To see Bryson (DeChambeau) doing Bryson things. I’m watching a lot, I’m paying attention.”

Stricker will have six discretionary picks for fill out his 12-man squad. Some have questioned if that’s too many.

“It’ll be more happy calls,” Stricker said. “There will be six calls I get to make who are guys I get to tell made the team. But it also opens up the door probably for some criticism on our part. But it’s going to be a team decision all the way around.”

The top six in the U.S. standings currently are Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Morikawa, DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas.

“I’ll ask the other six guys who are on the team who they are thinking about at the time. Obviously the assistant captains,” he continued. “So it’s going to be a team decision on who those other six are going to be.

“As we get closer, the team will kind of take form and take shape. Then we can start looking outside the top 6 or top 10 and see who is going to fit better with the guys who are already on the team.”

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Arnold Palmer Invitational: Sunday tee times, TV and streaming info

Here are Sunday tee times, TV and streaming info for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.

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For the second consecutive week the PGA Tour is in Florida as it makes its annual stop at Arnie’s place.

Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida, plays host this week to the 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational. Seven of the top 15 players in the Golfweek/Sagarin men’s ranking are in the field, and a few are near the top of the leaderboard after the third round.

Lee Westwood leads at Bay Hill through 54 holes at 11 under after carding a 7-under 65. Bryson DeChambeau and Corey Conners are T-2 at 10 under. Keegan Bradley and Jordan Spieth are T-4 at 9 under. Rory McIlroy is T-7 at 7 under along with four other players.

From tee times to TV info here’s everything you need to know for the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. All times Eastern.

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos
DiMeglio: Arnold Palmer’s figure still towers over golf

Final Round

1st tee

 

Time Players
7:45 a.m. Rickie Fowler, Doc Redman
7:55 a.m. Brandt Snedeker, Victor Perez
8:05 a.m. Kevin Na, Henrik Norlander
8:15 a.m. Luke List, Robert MacIntyre
8:25 a.m. Patton Kizzire, Russell Knox
8:35 a.m. Erik van Rooyen, Lucas Glover
8:45 a.m. Steve Stricker, Byeong Hun An
8:55 a.m. Mark Hubbard, Chez Reavie
9:05 a.m. Talor Gooch, John Huh
9:15 a.m. Sebastián Muñoz, Will Gordon
9:25 a.m. Charles Howell III, Zach Johnson
9:35 a.m. Bernd Wiesberger, Pat Perez
9:55 a.m. Matt Wallace, Maverick McNealy
10:05 a.m. Brendon Todd, Danny Lee
10:15 a.m. Jason Dufner, Bo Hoag
10:25 a.m. Viktor Hovland, Tyler Duncan
10:35 a.m. Brendan Steele, Harris English
10:45 a.m. Patrick Rodgers, Harold Varner III
10:55 a.m. Cameron Tringale, Hideki Matsuyama
11:05 a.m. Ian Poulter, Will Zalatoris
11:15 a.m. Keith Mitchell, Alex Noren
11:25 a.m. Emiliano Grillo, Padraig Harrington
11:35 a.m. Max Homa, Martin Laird
11:45 a.m. Branden Grace, Danny Willett
12:05 p.m. Kristoffer Ventura, Kevin Kisner
12:15 p.m. Sungjae Im, Denny McCarthy
12:25 p.m. Matthew Fitzpatrick, Paul Casey
12:35 p.m. Lanto Griffin, Andrew Putnam
12:45 p.m. Chris Kirk, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12:55 p.m. Jason Day, Jason Kokrak
1:05 p.m. Tyrrell Hatton, Charley Hoffman
1:15 p.m. Richy Werenski, Rory McIlroy
1:25 p.m. Doug Ghim, Jazz Janewattananond
1:35 p.m. Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood
1:45 p.m. Corey Conners, Keegan Bradley
1:55 p.m. Lee Westwood, Bryson DeChambeau

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TV, radio information

Sunday, March 7

TV

Golf Channel (Watch for free on fuboTV): 12:30-2:30 p.m.
NBC: 2:30-6 p.m.

STREAMING

PGA Tour Live: 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. (featured groups)
PGA Tour Live: 2:30-6 p.m. (featured holes)
Twitter: 8-9:15 a.m.

RADIO

PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 1-6 p.m.

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Lee Westwood, leading after 54 holes, trying to win one for the ‘old guys’ at Arnold Palmer Invitational

The 47-year-old Englishman becomes the first player to hold a 54-lead in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s.

Lee Westwood may be getting a little long in the tooth for the PGA Tour, but his clubs don’t seem to know it.

The Englishman, who turns 48 next month, has been playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational since 1998, when some of today’s stars of the PGA Tour were still in diapers. On Saturday, Westwood poured in eight birdies and an eagle en route to shooting 7-under 65 and taking a one-stroke leader over Bryson DeChambeau and Canadian Corey Conners. In doing so, Westwood is the oldest player to hold the 54-hole lead/co-lead on Tour since Phil Mickelson at the American Express in 2019.

As further proof of his staying power, Westwood became the first player to hold a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Last year, he won the European Tour’s season-long Race to Dubai and he’s currently ranked No. 39 in the world.

“If you would have said to me 20 years ago, will you still be top 50 in the world at 48, I might have been slightly skeptical,” Westwood conceded. “It just shows that I’m still capable of playing well in these tournaments with all the good young players around me and obviously contending, because that’s what I’m doing this week.”

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos | Tee times, TV

Westwood opened with rounds of 69-71 and got the party started with a 30-foot birdie putt at his first hole. He missed a 5-foot par at the second, but made birdie at five of seven holes beginning at No. 4, stuffing a wedge inside 2 feet at No. 8 and sinking a 19-foot putt at 10. There were three putts at Nos. 11 and 15 – offset by a birdie at 13, but then his putter warmed up from long range. First, Westwood drained a 33-foot eagle putt at 16 to get to double-digits under par and he closed out the round in dramatic fashion with a 28-foot birdie at the last to become the oldest player to card a 65 or lower at Bay Hill since Fred Couples in the first round in 2008.

Westwood has won 25 times on the European Tour but only twice on the PGA Tour, and none since the 2010 FedEx St. Jude Classic. This marks his 14th appearance at Bay Hill and it’s a course that has suited him from the get-go.

“The first time I came and played it in the late ’90s I enjoyed it and fell in love with it, I played well that week, I was in the second to last group on Sunday. So, yeah, it’s a place I like,” he said. “Obviously, with the King’s name attached to it, it’s a very special trophy to lift, tournament to win.”

Westwood’s stellar 65, which was played under preferred lies, was his lowest score in 49 career rounds at Arnie’s place and lifted him to a 54-hole aggregate of 11-under 205. He’ll have his work cut out on Sunday if he wants to wear the winner’s red alpaca sweater. In addition to DeChambeau and Conners, his closest competitors, Keegan Bradley, who shot 64, the low round of the tournament, and Jordan Spieth (68) are two back, Tommy Fleetwood (68) lurks three back, and former API champion Rory McIlroy (72) will try to charge Palmer style from four behind. None of the last five players 47 years or older to lead or co-lead after 54 holes at a PGA Tour event has gone on to win. In fact, the last to do so was Rocco Mediate 11 years ago.

While Westwood is fond of Bay Hill, the course traditionally has chewed him up and spit him out more often than not on Sundays. His final-round scoring average at Bay Hill of 73.60 includes scores of 75, 76 (twice), 78 and 79. He’s also just 1-for-5 in converting the 54-hole lead/co-lead to victory on Tour, which he did so in his maiden Tour title at the 1998 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

But don’t tell his fellow competitors on the PGA Tour, who are ready for Westwood to drive off into the sunset for the senior circuit, that Westwood can’t get it done.

“They say, ‘How long have you got until you join the Champions Tour?” Westwood recalled. “And I said, ‘Oh, it’s another couple of years yet, you’re stuck with me.’ ”

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Justin Rose withdraws from Arnold Palmer Invitational with back spasms

Justin Rose, paired with Jordan Spieth, walked off the course at the fourth hole with back spasms on Saturday, one hole after making a 9.

Justin Rose lasted just four holes on Saturday at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando. The former World No. 1 withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational citing an injured back.

Waking up with spasms in his lower back, Rose, who entered the day at 5 under par, tried to play through the pain and what he described as a warmup that was “hard work.”

“I just couldn’t stay down in a shot,” Rose said. “I missed basically every golf shot left to start the day.”

Rose’s struggles were magnified at the par-4, third hole where he rinsed three balls in the water and made 9. He did stick around long enough to witness playing competitor Jordan Spieth make a hole-in-one at the second hole. But two holes later, he informed Spieth that he would have to play the rest of the round as a single.

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos

“Even my little chip into the 4th hole out of the rough from the left-hand side was creating pain,” Rose said. “I just felt like it was a prudent call, just to call it at that point. But I felt bad with Jordan having momentum to sort of change, change the vibe of the group.”

Rose is scheduled to play in next week’s Players Championship. It was just the second time in 360 PGA Tour starts in his career that he’s withdrawn from a tournament.

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Tyrrell Hatton will not go quietly in his Arnold Palmer Invitational title defense

After a disastrous opening-round 77, Tyrrell Hatton bounces back with rounds of 67-66 to join the title hunt.

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After his title defense began with a disastrous 6 over start through his first 13 holes, Tyrrell Hatton rallied first to make the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and then to vault into striking distance of the leaders with a Saturday 66 at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando.

“Defending you kind of want to put up a solid defense,” Hatton said.

One year after he survived brutal conditions to shoot 4-under 284, the highest winning score in the API’s 42-year history, Hatton opened with 5-over 77 and was tied for 107th in the 123-man field.

“I didn’t actually play that bad, I just couldn’t hole a putt,” he explained.

But since the 6 over start for his first 13 holes, Hatton has turned his frown upside down and played 12 under his last 41 holes. What once looked like it would be a short week at Arnie’s Place has instead shown Hatton’s mettle.

“He’s got that burning desire to be great,” NBC’s Peter Jacobsen said. “He reminds me a lot of Ian Poulter. He’s just a bulldog, who fights and claws for everything he gets.”

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leaderboard | Photos

With his back up against the wall, Hatton made four birdies in a row beginning at No. 14 to make the cut with room to spare.

“Birdieing four of the last five yesterday was really important,” said Hatton, who shot 67 on Friday, “and just kind of thankful to actually have a chance to go out and give myself a chance at playing well this weekend.”

Having experienced the thrill of victory at Bay Hill, Hatton was asked what it meant to rebound from his bad start.

“The beer certainly tasted better. What did I have last night? It was Lagunitas — is it Hazy Wonder?” Hatton said. “Yeah, I love a hazy IPA. So, I had a beer and then a couple of glasses of red. But, yeah, obviously you always sort of feel good going home when you’ve had a good finish to get through to the weekend. No one likes missing cuts, although we’re all going to miss cuts throughout your career, it’s just part of what we do. Yeah, so always good to finish strong and make the weekend.”

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Hatton was in the zone in the third round. He made six birdies and an eagle and none of the putts was from longer than six feet, four inches.

“Just felt like I slowed my takeaway down a little bit and that was the key to kind of hitting a lot more good shots today,” Hatton said.

Unfortunately, he made two bogeys on the front nine – at Nos. 3 and 8 – and made the turn in 35. But he heated up at the turn with three straight birdies beginning at No. 10. The topper was the 6-iron Hatton struck from 201 yards. Fairway bunker shots rank alongside having a tooth pulled for Hatton, but this one was a beauty and he let his caddie know.

“I said to Mick, ‘I surprised myself with that one,’ ” Hatton said.

He parred in for 66 to improve to 6-under 210. Quite the turnaround after being 11 strokes off the lead following the first round. According to Justin Ray of 15th Club, no player in more than 50 years has won on the PGA Tour with an opening-round 77 or higher. So, how far back can Hatton be to have a chance on Sunday?

“That’s kind of hard to say,” he said. “I mean, obviously, if there’s one guy that runs away from it and I’m not too far from the guys that are like tied second or whatnot, then there’s always a slight chance. But as it stands and I think if the weather stays as it is I genuinely don’t think that I’ll have a chance to win tomorrow. But that’s OK. The damage was done on Thursday and I’m just, I’m quite happy to be playing the weekend, to be honest.”

And playing like a defending champion should play.

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