Jon Rahm may be the best golfer in the world, but he’s never been more relatable after Thursday’s par-3 seventh hole at the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Already struggling a bit in the opening round, Rahm had a golden opportunity to save par at 7 and move on to the next hole. Just needing a tap-in from 11 inches, Rahm took the “tap” concept a bit too literally and made such little contact with the ball that it hardly moved.
Golf is a difficult game — even for the best golfers in the world. But that was a miss that you almost never see happen for a player of Rahm’s caliber.
Day had a legitimate reason for withdrawing from this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
ORLANDO – Former PGA Championship winner Jason Day’s mom, Dening, died last night, Day posted on social media. She was 65.
Day, a former champion of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, had withdrawn from the tournament on Wednesday. He did not cite a reason, leading to speculation that his balky back may be plaguing him again. If only that had been the case.
“Last night, my mum peacefully left us after battling cancer for five years,” Day said on Instagram. “We are heartbroken but incredibly grateful for the gift we had in her living with us for the last almost two years full time. She fought so hard until the very last breath. I am forever indebted to her for the sacrifices she made for me to be successful, and for the person she helped me to become. We will miss her so much.”
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Born in the Philippines, Dening studied nursing and met Day’s father, Alvyn, an Australian, via a letter he sent seeking a wife to Dening’s landlady’s sister. That woman had moved to Italy and so Dening penned a response.
Day was just 12 years old when his father lost his battle to stomach cancer. Soon after, his mother sold their home and borrowed money from relatives to send him to Kooralbyn International School, eight hours from home but where he could concentrate on his golf ability. That’s where Day met Collin Swatton, who became a father figure of sorts and guided Day to World No. 1 as his swing coach and caddie.
In early 2017, Dening was diagnosed with a mass in her left lung that turned out to be Stage 4 non-small-cell lung cancer. Day withdrew from the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play during a teary-eyed news conference to spend time with her when he was told that she had only a few months to live. He brought her to the U.S. for exploratory surgery and her cancer went into remission for a time. Dening was by Day’s side at the 2020 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. She spent the final two years of her life in Columbus, Ohio, where Day and wife Ellie live with their four children, the last of whom was born in June.
“It felt as good as it has for a long time,” McIlroy said of his game.
ORLANDO – Rory McIlroy followed his game plan for Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge perfectly. He drove it in the fairways, holed a few putts and dominated the four par 5s to the tune of 5 under en route to shooting 7-under 65.
“It felt as good as it has for a long time,” he said of his game.
Good enough to stake him to a three-stroke lead during the first round of the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational at a course where he’s a past champion in 2018 and recorded five consecutive top-10s, the longest active streak at the tournament. Not quite of the same level as Tiger Woods winning eight times here, but none too shabby.
“It’s one of these courses that I don’t feel like I have to do anything special to compete,” McIlroy explained on Wednesday. “I can play within myself. You take care of the par-5s here. You play conservatively the rest of the way, especially how the golf course here has been set up the past few years. You play for your pars, and then you try to pick off birdies on the par-5s and some of the easier holes. If you just keep doing that day after day, you’re going to find yourself around the top of the leaderboard.”
McIlroy, who won the CJ Cup in October, cited a goal of winning six times this year and said his game felt sharp coming out of the Genesis Invitational, where he posted three rounds in the 60s and finished tied for 10th. To find the winner’s circle more frequently, he noted there are two keys: he needs to hit more than 60 percent of his fairways (he hit 57.35 percent of fairways last season, which ranked No. 145 on Tour, and his rough proximity on approach shots ranked No. 154) and improve his proximity inside 150 yards (he ranked No. 141 from 75-100 yards).
On Thursday, his tee game was on point as he hit 15 of 18 fairways.
“I think, when Rory’s on with his driver, there’s no one better in the world than Rory with a driver,” said Graeme McDowell, who opened with 4-under 68. “You can really kind of bring this course slightly to its knees. Not totally to its knees, but slightly if you drive it well here.”
“When he’s hitting it straight like today, it’s easy to kind of make any course look fairly simple from there,” added Adam Scott, who played in McIlroy’s threesome and fired a 68 of his own.
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McIlroy also was pleased with his long iron play, noting a pair of 4-irons that he hit on Nos. 6 and 12 to set up birdies.
“They were probably two of the best long irons I hit in a while,” he said. “When I start hitting long irons like that, I know my swing is in a pretty good place.”
While Bay Hill certainly rewards goods driving, Scott said McIlroy’s game was hitting on all keys.
“I thought his speed, his putting was beautiful today,” Scott said. “You’ve got to hole a few putts to get to 7-under around here. I thought all of his game looked really good.”
McIlroy has found his rhythm on the greens, highlighted by a 41-foot eagle putt at the par-5 16th, which was the longest eagle putt of his Tour career.
“No way,” McIlroy said when told of the feat. “A 40-footer up the hill, I was just trying to get it close and if it drops, it’s a bonus.”
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McIlroy ranked first in Stroked Gains: Putting when he won the CJ Cup and finished in the top 10 in that statistical category at the Genesis Invitational.
“I’ve actually really enjoyed not having a green book,” McIlroy said of the pocket-sized books featuring highly detailed illustrations of the putting surfaces, which were banned at the start of the year. “I feel like it’s got me more into the putts…Honestly, I feel like it’s benefited me these last few weeks, and that’s been a nice thing.”
Why Palmer’s winter retreat has always fit McIlroy’s eye isn’t really that complicated a mystery. But McDowell may have summed it up succinctly.
“Don’t know,” McDowell said. “He’s just good, isn’t he?”
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.
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 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.
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ORLANDO – Bernhard Langer has won more than 100 tournaments worldwide the past 50 years or so, with 42 coming on the DP World Tour and 43 on the PGA Tour Champions – both totals bested only by Seve Ballesteros on the DP World Tour, by Hale Irwin on the PGA Tour Champions.
Langer, the former world No. 1, whose plaque was hung in the World Golf Hall of Fame 20 years ago, has won two Masters, 11 majors on the senior circuit and been victorious an astounding 10 times since turning 60 four years ago.
Each victory is memorable, but a few have come with some extra buzz. In addition to taking home the championship hardware and the winner’s paycheck, a personal letter congratulating Langer arrived shortly after many of his victory celebrations.
From Arnold Palmer.
“When I won a tournament, I was always wondering, do I get another letter from Arnie? And sure enough, it arrived,” Langer said. “I was surprised when I got the first one because not everybody did that. I was very, very surprised, and very grateful and thankful.
“And they kept coming.”
Sharp with a putter and pen
For 50 years, Arnie — the accessible common man who burst out of black-and-white TV sets and took the game to the masses, a folk hero who was there for one and all, from children to blue-collar workers to captains of industry to Presidents of the United States — was a prolific wordsmith.
PGA Tour star Arnold Palmer sits at a desk in 1979. Tony Tomsic-USA TODAY NETWORK
Just as he did on courses the world over, where the bold player with thick forearms and a thin waist won 62 PGA Tour titles including seven majors, Arnie would hitch up his pants and take to the desk and author letters of congratulations to thousands of winners that were sent in envelopes featuring his umbrella logo.
From the late 1960s until a week before his passing in 2016, Palmer wrote or typed personal messages to winners on the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, LPGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour, as well as victors of overseas events and certain amateur and collegiate events.
Jack Nicklaus got letters, as did Tiger Woods. Gary Player and Tom Watson and Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson, too. And on and on and on.
“Anytime you see that umbrella on some padded notepaper is always special, especially because you know where it’s come from,” Lee Westwood said. “He was the King. That’s the kind of respect he commanded.
“I enjoyed chatting with him. Whenever I did, it was valuable time spent with him. He had time for everybody. It was like sitting and talking to your granddad. He made you feel like part of his family.”
Billy Andrade, who like Palmer played golf for Wake Forest, has many of the letters framed.
“I had a couple from Arnie when I won the Boeing Classic and then I won the Schwab Cup when I beat Bernhard in the playoff. And Arnie made a nice little comment, about the way I beat Bernhard in the playoff, that was awesome.
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“He was so sweet to write those letters, and he did it for everybody. I think that every player up until his passing out here that’s won has got a letter from him.
“I miss those.”
‘Such a cool guy’
Daniel Berger won his first PGA Tour title at the 2016 FedEx St. Jude Classic three months before Palmer passed. He still got a letter.
“I framed it. It’s in my office. I look at it occasionally just to kind of bring back good memories,” Berger said. “I had some good experiences with Mr. Palmer. I played in the Palmer Cup when I was in college, so I got to know him a little bit better there.
“He was such a cool guy. If you had any questions you could ask him, and he would go on for hours talking about whatever you wanted to talk about.”
Paula Creamer, a winner of 10 LPGA Tour titles, has some of Arnie’s letters framed, including a special one she received after winning the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open at Palmer’s beloved Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.
Whenever she sees his signature, she’s reminded of a meaningful conversation she had years ago with Palmer.
“As a junior golfer playing in the Champions Tour Pebble Beach event, I met Mr. Palmer at the golf course. He knew who I was and was the one who taught me early on that when signing an autograph, use penmanship where the fan would recognize the name,” said Creamer, whose daughter, Hilton Rose, was born a little more than seven weeks ago in the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, which is near the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. “No shortcuts, no scribbling. He also told me to look everyone in the eye and take the time to thank them. Ever since then, anytime I sign an autograph, his advice rings loudly in my ears.”
The letter Arnold Palmer sent to Michael Thompson for a win in Boise.
Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler reminisce
One of the many letters Rory McIlroy received arrived after he won the first of his four majors at the 2011 U.S. Open.
“You are now in a position where you have the opportunity to give back to the game that is making you famous, and I hope, and certainly feel sure, that you will live up to that obligation in the months and years ahead. Just continue to be yourself. Don’t change. Sincerely, Arnold Palmer.”
“Those were good words of wisdom and words to live by,” McIlroy said.
Rickie Fowler cherishes every letter from Palmer.
“I know everyone misses getting those letters,” Fowler said. “That was something that in a way you almost thought about when you did win something, not that it was expected, but you knew there was a good chance that Arnold was watching, and he was going to be sending a letter out.
“And you can’t beat that.”
Dottie Pepper saw Palmer’s logo on the envelope and letterhead for the first time after she set the tournament scoring record of 19 under that still stands in winning the 1999 Kraft Nabisco Championship, her second major triumph.
“It felt great because people were paying attention to A, women’s golf, and B, a record had been set,” Pepper said.
But another gesture Arnie delivered to Pepper meant so much more. One that was life-changing.
In 2003, Pepper was incorrectly diagnosed with Lyme disease and the medication made her feel worse. Former LPGA commissioner Charlie Mechem called Pepper one day and discovered she was not doing well.
“I was on the couch and I could barely move,” Pepper said. “Charlie said he was going to make a phone call.”
Within the hour, Mechem called back.
“Arnold is telling you to get on a plane, get yourself to Rochester, Minnesota, the rest of it will be taken care of because you’re going to the Mayo Clinic,” Pepper said. “So I flew to Minnesota. Head-to-toe testing. I was misdiagnosed, and they got things corrected and I was off and running.
“Arnold was way bigger than golf. Golf was the vehicle for Arnold to touch so many people. He was a people person. He loved people and loved helping people.
“Phil will be back. I think the players want to see him back.”
ORLANDO – Two Sundays ago after his final round in the Genesis Invitational north of Los Angeles, Rory McIlroy said Phil Mickelson’s alarming comments concerning the PGA Tour and the proposed breakaway, Saudi Arabia-backed golf league were “naïve, selfish, egotistical, ignorant.”
On Wednesday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, McIlroy said Mickelson, who is immersed in controversy and has lost sponsors and stepped away from the game, should be forgiven.
“I think Phil has been a wonderful ambassador for the game of golf, still is a wonderful ambassador for the game of golf,” McIlroy said. “It’s unfortunate that a few comments that he thought he was making in confidence or off the record got out there. This whole situation is unfortunate.
“Look, Phil will be back. I think the players want to see him back. He’s done such a wonderful job for the game of golf, and he’s represented the game of golf very, very well for the entirety of his career.”
In November, Mickelson told longtime golf writer Alan Shipnuck, author of an upcoming, unauthorized biography of Mickelson, that he could overlook atrocities committed by the repressive Saudi Arabia regime and use the outrageous amounts of Saudi money being offered as leverage against the PGA Tour to improve its financial output to players. He also likened the PGA Tour to a “dictatorship.”
Earlier this year, Mickelson told Golf Digest that the PGA Tour’s “greed” was “beyond obnoxious.”
“Look, we all make mistakes,” McIlroy said. “We all say things we want to take back. No one is different in that regard. But we should be allowed to make mistakes, and we should be allowed to ask for forgiveness and for people to forgive us and move on. Hopefully, he comes back at some stage, and he will, and people will welcome him back and be glad that he is back.”
McIlroy isn’t going anywhere. The world No. 5 has long said he wouldn’t go to the rival league and his allegiance is to the PGA Tour’s flag. This week, McIlroy is at one of his favorite places – Bay Hill. In his last five starts in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he has never been worse than a tie for 10th and won in 2018.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland holds the trophy after his two-shot victory during the final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented By MasterCard at Bay Hill Club and Lodge on March 18, 2018, in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
“We all know what Arnold Palmer means to the PGA Tour and to the game of golf in general. So it’s always nice to be here and try to sort of remember his legacy and remember what he meant to everyone,” McIlroy said. “It’s one of these courses that I don’t feel like I have to do anything special to compete. I can play within myself. You take care of the par-5s here. You play conservatively the rest of the way, especially how the golf course here has been set up the past few years. You play for your pars, and then you try to pick off birdies on the par-5s and some of the easier holes. If you just keep doing that day after day, you’re going to find yourself around the top of the leaderboard.
“It’s been a course that’s fit my eye from the first time I played here.”
He might think differently after this week.
“It’s a different course setup this year,” he said. “The rough is thick off the fairways, but then what they’ve done is they’ve taken out a lot of these runoff areas off the greens where historically it’s been you’d miss a green and run off and you’d still have the chip off short grass. Now that’s all been filled in with rough.”
But McIlroy still has his eye on the hardware – and the red cardigan sweater given to the winner. McIlroy’s is hanging in his closet.
Rory McIlroy celebrates with the championship trophy after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel/TNS via Getty Images)
“I have not broken it out since then,” he said. “It’s a little scratchy. It wouldn’t be that comfortable on the skin, but it’s obviously very, very nice to have in the wardrobe.
“I think it’s one of the coolest trophies that we have in golf. I wish Arnold would have been around with me on the 18th green then. That would have been the icing on the cake. But I got to spend a couple of years with him here in 2015 and 2016, and I’ll always appreciate those times that we did spend together.”
The good vibes didn’t last long, however, as the former Arnold Palmer Invitational champ was back in the news on Wednesday after the PGA Tour announced he had withdrawn from the event at Bay Hill.
Day captured the title at this event in 2016 and has finished inside the top 35 thrice since. But this marks the third time in four years the Aussie star has pulled out of the event, citing back issues as the reason for the previous two. There was no official word on why Day left this year.
Day was scheduled as a featured player on PGA Tour Live’s coverage on ESPN+, as he was to be joined by Marc Leishman and Tyrrell Hatton. He’ll be replaced in the field by David Lipsky.
ORLANDO — Three weeks ago at the colossal party otherwise known as the WM Phoenix Open, Scottie Scheffler won the championship hardware in a playoff against Patrick Cantlay for his first PGA Tour title.
On the same day, rookie Sahith Theegala won the hearts and minds of golf fans. The 24-year-old had slept on the lead for three consecutive nights in the star-studded tournament and wasn’t wilting in the Arizona heat on the final day.
Looking for his first PGA Tour title, the product of Pepperdine took to the tee of the drivable 17th hole and hit a perfect tee shot. Until it wasn’t, the ball taking a wicked bounce to the left into the water by the green.
The resulting bogey led to a tie for third—his best result on the PGA Tour— and a thunderous serenade from the fans on the 18th green.
“THEE-GA-LA, THEE-GA-LA, THEE-GA-LA.”
While his Cinderella story fell short and a few tears were shared with his parents and 15 other family members on hand, the down-to-earth Theegala left TPC Scottsdale with his chest out and head held high.
“That was a really cool experience,” Theegala said Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s start of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Lodge and Club. “The fact that so many people were cheering for me is cool. But also the fact that I put myself in a really good spot to win the event, it obviously gave me a lot of confidence.”
He certainly didn’t pout despite the tough break on 17 and winding up one shot short of a playoff. Theegala has dealt with tough times before. A wrist injury in college forced him to miss 10 months of tournament play. When he turned pro, COVID-19 got in the way.
“Being injured, especially an injury like that that I’ve never dealt with in my life, not being able to play tournament golf for 10 months, it gave me a different perspective,” he said. “I just found out that life’s not golf and golf’s not life, that I had a lot of great people behind me no matter what I do in life.
“That was definitely a perspective change for me, and sure enough, after I came back from the injury along with a few swing changes to help my body out a little bit, it was the best golf I ever played.
“I think a lot of that was mindset related for sure.”
His mindset is still in a good place. In 12 starts this season, he has two top-10s and two missed cuts. After coming so close in Phoenix, he drove 5½ hours to Los Angeles to play in the Genesis Invitational the following week, where he tied for 48th. Nothing out of the ordinary for Theegala, who still lives with his parents in Orange Country in California. He put 2,700 miles on his 2015 Passat driving to every west coast tournament. He even joked that he was going to drive from the west coast to Orlando.
Instead, he took a smooth flight to Orlando and is driving a GMC Denali this week.
“It’s so sick,” he said, in a good way.
That’s one reason the approachable guy with an easy smile is in a good mood. He’s ecstatic to play in a tournament with so much history, its name featuring Arnold Palmer. And the course put a smile on his face immediately.
“Gosh, I’m just obviously really happy to be here. Definitely a special vibe coming to this golf course and all the history and stuff behind it,” he said. “Probably one of the purest courses I’ve ever played in my life too, so that helps.
“Really excited for the week. The week off definitely made me hungry to get here.”
It’s time to tee it up at the King’s place. This week the PGA Tour is in Orlando, Florida, for the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau is not in the field as he was forced to withdraw due to an injury.
The No. 1 ranked player in the world, Jon Rahm, will be making his tournament debut this week and is the betting favorite at +750.
The top of the betting odds list features some of the biggest names in the game including past champion Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, and recent first-time winner Scottie Scheffler. However, there’s a bunch of value further down the list, starting with another past champion of this event.
How to watch, listen and stream all the action from Bay Hill.
A loaded field of the PGA Tour’s best are bound for Bay Hill Club and Lodge as the Florida Swing continues.
World No. 1 Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and a host of stars highlight the field for the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational that won’t include defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, who withdrew due to injury after recently picking the Tour over a Saudi Arabia-backed rival league..
Here’s what you need to know to watch and listen to all the action from the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational. All times Eastern.
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