Tag: Arnold Palmer Invitational 2020

Winner’s Bag: Tyrrell Hatton, Arnold Palmer Invitational

A complete list of the golf equipment Tyrrell Hatton used to win the PGA Tour’s 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

A complete list of the golf equipment Tyrrell Hatton used to win the PGA Tour’s 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational:

DRIVER: Ping G410 Plus (9 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana RF60 TX shaft

FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees), with Diamana DF 70 shaft, Ping G410 (20.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana DF80 TX shaft

IRONS: Ping i210 (4-PW), with Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120X shafts

WEDGES: Ping Glide 3.0 (50 degrees), Titleist Vokey Design SM8 (54, 60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts

PUTTER: Ping Vault Oslo

BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

GRIPS: Golf Pride MCC

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How much money each golfer won at the Arnold Palmer Invitational

Check out the prize money earned by each player this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

A strong test on its own, Bay Hill was even more difficult for the professionals this week at the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Tyrrell Hatton was able to battle the wind – and his own roller coaster emotions – to come out on top, winning hist first PGA Tour title and the $1,674,000 first-place prize at 4 under.

Marc Leishman finished second at 3 under, followed by last week’s Honda Classic champion Sungjae Im (-2) and Bryson DeChambeau (-1). Keith Mitchell, Joel Dahmen, Danny Lee and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy all finished T-5 at even par.

Check out how much each player won this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leaderboard | Best photos

Prize money

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Tyrrell Hatton -4 $1,674,000
2 Marc Leishman -3 $1,013,700
3 Sungjae Im -2 $641,700
4 Bryson DeChambeau -1 $455,700
T5 Keith Mitchell E $330,731
T5 Joel Dahmen E $330,731
T5 Danny Lee E $330,731
T5 Rory McIlroy E $330,731
T9 Matthew Fitzpatrick 1 $244,125
T9 Collin Morikawa 1 $244,125
T9 Sung Kang 1 $244,125
T9 Harris English 1 $244,125
T13 Talor Gooch 2 $188,325
T13 Charley Hoffman 2 $188,325
T15 Patrick Reed 3 $160,425
T15 Tom Hoge 3 $160,425
T15 Scottie Scheffler 3 $160,425
T18 Danny Willett 4 $118,885
T18 Brendon Todd 4 $118,885
T18 Rickie Fowler 4 $118,885
T18 Jason Kokrak 4 $118,885
T18 Dylan Frittelli 4 $118,885
T18 Christiaan Bezuidenhout 4 $118,885
T24 Jimmy Walker 5 $72,424
T24 Adam Long 5 $72,424
T24 Beau Hossler 5 $72,424
T24 Xander Schauffele 5 $72,424
T24 Matt Wallace 5 $72,424
T24 Troy Merritt 5 $72,424
T24 Max Homa 5 $72,424
T24 Patrick Rodgers 5 $72,424
T32 Ian Poulter 6 $54,289
T32 Zach Johnson 6 $54,289
T32 Graeme McDowell 6 $54,289
T32 Bud Cauley 6 $54,289
T36 Billy Horschel 7 $43,322
T36 Kevin Na 7 $43,322
T36 Zac Blair 7 $43,322
T36 Harold Varner III 7 $43,322
T36 Lanto Griffin 7 $43,322
T36 Sam Burns 7 $43,322
T42 Harry Higgs 8 $33,015
T42 Keegan Bradley 8 $33,015
T42 Steve Stricker 8 $33,015
T42 Viktor Hovland 8 $33,015
T42 Kyoung-Hoon Lee 8 $33,015
T47 Brooks Koepka 9 $25,054
T47 Scott Harrington 9 $25,054
T47 Rory Sabbatini 9 $25,054
T47 Stewart Cink 9 $25,054
T47 Matt Jones 9 $25,054
T52 Ryan Moore 10 $22,274
T52 Matthew Wolff 10 $22,274
T52 Kevin Chappell 10 $22,274
T52 Xin-Jun Zhang 10 $22,274
T56 Abraham Ancer 11 $21,204
T56 Robby Shelton 11 $21,204
T56 Scott Brown 11 $21,204
T56 Hideki Matsuyama 11 $21,204
T56 Byeong-Hun An 11 $21,204
T56 Nick Taylor 11 $21,204
T62 Doc Redman 12 $20,274
T62 Sam Saunders 12 $20,274
T62 Rod Perry 12 $20,274
T62 Brian Gay 12 $20,274
66 Davis Love III 13 $19,809
67 Vaughn Taylor 14 $19,623
68 Wyndham Clark 20 $19,437
69 Rob Oppenheim 25 $19,251

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Arnold Palmer Invitational: Final round tee times, TV info

Everything you need to know for the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational comes to a conclusion on Sunday at Bay Hill Club and Lounge.

Tyrrell Hatton enters the final round with a two-shot lead at 6 under over Marc Leishman and Rory McIlroy, who sit T-2 at 4 under. Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Danny Lee, Sungjae Im and Harris English are T-4 at 3 under.

Among the notable names to miss the cut include Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Tony Finau, Scott Piercy, Adam Scott and Matt Every, who shot a 65 and held the solo lead after the first round but came back on Friday and shot an 83.

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Best photos | Leaderboard | Updates
More: Koepka shoots worst round of PGA Tour career, shrugs it off

All times listed are Eastern.

Round 3

Time Players
8 a.m. Rob Oppenheim
8:10 a.m. Ryan Moore, Wyndham Clark
8:20 a.m. Brooks Koepka, Matthew Wolff
8:30 a.m. Doc Redman, Abraham Ancer
8:40 a.m. Robby Shelton, Sam Saunders
8:50 a.m. Scott Brown, Rod Perry
9 a.m. Vaughn Taylor, Brian Gay
9:10 a.m. Jimmy Walker, Hideki Matsuyama
9:20 a.m. Byeong Hun An, Billy Horschel
9:30 a.m. Adam Long, Kevin Na
9:40 a.m. Harry Higgs, Zac Blair
9:50 a.m. Keegan Bradley, Beau Hossler
10 a.m. Kevin Chappell, Davis Love III
10:10 a.m. Scott Harrington, Patrick Reed
10:20 a.m. Lanto Griffin, Harold Varner III
10:30 a.m. Matthew Fitzpatrick, Xinjun Zhang
10:40 a.m. Nick Taylor, Ian Poulter
10:50 a.m. Danny Willett, Steve Stricker
11 a.m. Viktor Hovland, Zach Johnson
11:10 a.m. Talor Gooch, Xander Schauffele
11:20 a.m. Rickie Fowler, Brendon Todd
11:30 a.m. Matt Wallace, Graeme McDowell
11:40 a.m. Bud Cauley, Troy Merritt
11:50 a.m. Jason Kokrak, Rory Sabbatini
Noon Keith Mitchell, Stewart Cink
12:10 p.m. Charley Hoffman, Dylan Frittelli
12:20 p.m. Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Joel Dahmen
12:30 p.m. Sam Burns, Max Homa
12:40 p.m. Scottie Scheffler, Tom Hoge
12:50 p.m. Patrick Rodgers, Collin Morikawa
1 p.m. Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones
1:10 p.m. Harris English, Sung Kang
1:20 p.m. Sungjae Im, Danny Lee
1:30 p.m. Rory McIlroy, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
1:40 p.m. Tyrrell Hatton, Marc Leishman

TV info

Sunday

Golf Channel: 12:30-2:30 p.m. ET
NBC: 2:30-6 p.m. ET
Sirius XM: Noon-5 p.m. ET
Twitter: 6:30-7:30 a.m. ET

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Lynch: Brooks Koepka shoots worst round of PGA Tour career, shrugs it off

At Arnold Palmer Invitational, Koepka says he’s close to regaining form as The Players and the Masters quickly approach.

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ORLANDO — There weren’t many witnesses to the single most impressive act of courage seen in years at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday. It happened outside the scoring office when K.H. Lee — bringing a new definition to the concept of risk/reward — asked his playing partner, Brooks Koepka, to pose for selfies with him and his wife after Koepka had just signed for an 81, the highest score of his PGA Tour career.

There are more than a few Tour players who would have dismissed the young South Korean with the kind of gesture that is understood in any language, but instead Koepka cheerfully obliged the player who had just clipped him by nine strokes.

The 81 at Bay Hill eclipsed Koepka’s previous worst, an 80 in the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield. But that was back in the infancy of his career, long before back-to-back U.S. Opens and back-to-back PGA Championships and a healthy stint as the world’s No. 1-ranked golfer. Not that he knew he was skidding to a personal worst in the blustery conditions. “No, I mean I didn’t play very good,” he said with a shrug. “It was tough. You’d have taken 2 over today.”

Arnold Palmer Invitational: Leaderboard

As it turned out, Koepka was 2 over after two holes, and added six more bogeys and a double-bogey against a lone birdie. It was just his ninth competitive round in 141 days since withdrawing from his title defense at the CJ Cup in South Korea last October after aggravating a knee injury. He returned to the Tour three weeks ago at the Genesis Open, where he finished T-43, then missed the cut at the Honda Classic after a pair of 74s last week. Playing the API was a last minute decision as he tries to rediscover some form.

“It’s close, it’s not far away,” he had said Thursday after an opening round of 72. The statistics accumulated since in his 73-81 offer little to back up Koepka’s optimism. He has found just 18 of the 42 fairways he has aimed at, and only half of the 54 greens. His 89 putts through three rounds indicate a lack of confidence on the greens too.

But the world No. 3 knows that statistics don’t always offer an accurate gauge of progress when competing in arduous conditions. “Part of the problem is we’ve played in so much wind. It’s really difficult to…”

He paused.

“…not trust it, but…”

Another pause.

“…I guess trust it. That is the right word,” he decided. “When it’s blowing 25 it’s hard. If there’s no wind you can see the ball flight, you can see what it’s doing. When it’s so gusty it’s difficult.”

Two holes stuck in Koepka’s craw during the third round. One was the 15th, a 465-yard sharp dogleg right. “You can’t hold the fairway,” he said with a vague hint of exasperation. “It’s downwind. I mean, you can’t hold it if there’s no wind with the rough, and then the pin is up in the front left. So I thought that was a little weird.” That hole yielded a rare back-nine par.

Not so the par-3 17th, which Koepka could only shake his head at the difficulty of. He measured it at 218 yards but said it was playing closer to 260. He made bogey there and eventually settled at 10-over-par, tied 64th among the 67 men playing the weekend. The indignity of not breaking 80 was compounded by another realization familiar to recreational golfers: his caddie, Ricky Elliott, lost the headcover of his Scotty Cameron putter along the way.

Sunday will be little more than an opportunity to find a shred of competitive confidence before he gets to the Players Championship next week. Koepka doesn’t have an overly encouraging record at TPC Sawgrass — zero top-10 finishes in five starts — but he dismissed any suggestion that he should be concerned about trying to find a pre-Masters spark on a succession of daunting venues. “I’m a big boy,” he said. “I can handle it.”

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Scottie Scheffler is latest young gun to get in the hunt, shoots 67 at Arnold Palmer Invitational

Scott Scheffler fired a bogey-free 5-under 67 to open the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The rookie is seeking his 1st victory on the PGA Tour.

ORLANDO – Big expectations have followed Scottie Scheffler ever since he won the 2013 U.S. Junior Amateur at Martis Camp and became the first Texan to do so since a kid named Jordan Spieth.

Scheffler also won three straight individual state titles, joining Spieth as the only players to accomplish that feat at the time. He followed Spieth to Texas and just as Spieth did played on the U.S. Walker Cup team, in 2017.

By now, you may have noticed a trend.

Yet somehow, despite being the 2019 Korn Ferry Player of the Year, Scheffler has been lost in the shuffle as the star-studded trio of Viktor Hovland, Matt Wolff and Collin Morikawa beat him to the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour.

One week after Korea’s Sungjae Im claimed his breakthrough victory at the Honda Classic, could Scheffler, 23, be the next young gun to secure his maiden victory? He’s off to a flying start after posting a bogey-free 5-under 67 in the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

“It’s always great to be able to keep the card clean, especially on a day like today,” said Scheffler, (T-3) who trails Matt Every by two strokes. “It’s playing really tough out there.”

API: Tee times, TV | Photos | Scores | Live updates

Starting on the back nine, Scheffler circled his first birdie on his card when he rolled in a 28-foot birdie putt at 11 and was just off the putting surface in 2 at the par-5 16th and made a short birdie putt. His putter delivered again at 18 as he poured in a 29-footer at 18 to shoot 33. On the second nine, Scheffler wedged to 5 feet for birdie at the third and nearly drove the fifth green, pitching to a foot.

He didn’t hole any long ones on his second nine, but called a bunch of par saves the highlight of his round. Color veteran pro Brian Gay, who played alongside Scheffler on Thursday, impressed.

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“Shoot, every time I play with him, he’s going low,” Gay said. “He’s pretty long, hits it high, good putter and he’s kind of got an old-school upright swing that reminds me of Mark Calcavecchia.”

Gay has seen a lot of the young pros up close and personal and says Scheffler has what it takes to join the list of Tour winners soon.

“I don’t see why not,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

Scheffler, who won twice on the Korn Ferry Tour last year, has picked up where he left off in his rookie season. He won the RSM Birdies Fore Love competition for making the most birdies and eagles (139) in the fall portion of the schedule, which included three top-10 finishes: T-5 at the RSM Classic, T-3 at the Bermuda Championship and T-7 at A Military Tribute to the Greenbrier.

Scheffler threatened to notch his first win in January at The American Express, finishing solo-third at 23-under 265. It marked the third time he held a share of the 36-hole lead on the season.

For all of his success this season, Scheffler isn’t one to get caught up in setting and chasing goals.

“I think in college I worried too much about my form and just too many, too much going on in the head,” he said. “I noticed if I start making goals into the future, I’ll start looking ahead and not focusing on the day-to-day.”

“So when I turned pro, I kind of had a little change of heart at the beginning of the season last year and it kept me going,” he added. “Just not over-thinking things and going out and playing.”

That includes not stressing over a potential secondary goal: making his Masters debut. He currently ranks No. 51 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and the top 50 after the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play earn an invite to play in the Masters. But he knows if he takes care of business this week at Arnie’s Place, where he once competed as a high school sophomore in the AJGA’s Wyndham Cup, he won’t have to worry about the fluctuations in the rankings anymore.

“I think winning here would get me into a few events as well, so looking at this week,” Scheffler said.

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Matt Every posts 20-stroke improvement, leads Arnold Palmer Invitational

Matt Every fires a bogey-free 65 to lead the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and shoot 20 strokes better than his last round at Honda Classic.

ORLANDO – Twenty.

That’s how many strokes Matt Every’s bogey-free 7-under 65 was better than his second round at the Honda Classic last week.

Thanks to a 32-foot birdie putt at No. 8, Every signed for the low round of the day at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and made his 85 at the Honda Classic last week a distant memory.

“My short-term memory isn’t very good, so that is a strength sometimes,” Every said.

Well, in this case, Every, 36, hasn’t completely forgotten the disaster at the par-3 fifth hole at PGA National in the second round last Friday when he made an 11.

API: Tee times, TV | Photos | Scores | Live updates

“OK, I’ll tell you what happened. It was a back-left pin. I was already going to miss the cut. It was – the wind was off the right. I had been having problems all week holding the wind and I normally can hold the wind. And I’m not going to learn anything by skanking one out to the right and bailing out. I know I can do that,” he said of hitting four 5-irons into the drink. “So, I wasn’t leaving that tee until I hit the shot I wanted and I flushed every one of them, like, exactly in the same spot in the water. And then finally I hit one that held it.”

Matt Every reacts after his birdie on 8 during the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

It took a 4-iron to do so. Why did he finally break down and switch clubs?

“I think I had like two balls left and it was, I just didn’t want to have to deal with that,” he said. “I was ready to get out of there.”

His goal on Thursday was simple: “I just didn’t want to shoot myself out of the tournament with the weather the way it was, but I got off to a good start,” he said.

Did he ever.

Starting on 10, he wedged from 91 yards to 3 feet for birdie. His putter heated up with a 14-foot par putt at 14 and then a couple long ones after making the turn. He canned a 36-footer birdie putt at No. 1 and a 47-foot birdie at 2.

It added up to a 65 that topped the field on a warm, blustery day, one stroke better than World No. 1 Rory McIlroy shot in the morning.

“I always feel like my good stuff has been really, is really, really good. There’s just no, like, middle ground with me, though. That’s the problem. It’s, like, either ragged or really good,” Every said. “But, yeah, I feel good about my game right now.”

It’s been a difficult year for Every, who was suspended for 12 weeks for failing a Tour drug test in October. Every says he’s been prescribed marijuana to combat anxiety, but the Tour denied his request for a Therapeutic Use Exemption. While marijuana is legal in some states, it is on the banned substance list under the Tour’s anti-doping policy.

“It bothers me that it’s even an issue out here at all,” he said. “I think it doesn’t do anybody any favors that it’s even on the list for a prohibited substances. You could fail for heroin and marijuana and the penalty is the same. If anyone wants to make the argument that that is performance enhancing, they have never done it before. I promise it’s not.”

Every, who entered the week ranked No. 309 in the world, returned to action at the Sony Open in Hawaii, but withdrew due to a back injury. His best result is a T-18 at the Sanderson Farms Championship. He was in contention at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but shot a final-round 80 on a windy day and ballooned to T-32.

Matt Every reacts after his birdie on the eighth green during the first round of the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Bay Hill Golf & Lodge has always been one of Every’s favorite hunting grounds. The Daytona Beach, Florida, native grew up attending the API as a kid – he used to follow Mark Calcavecchia – and he’s won here twice (2014-15) for his only two titles on the PGA Tour.

Every’s 65 marked his lowest score in 33 rounds at Bay Hill. He’s opened in the 60s two other times at the API and both times he went on to win.

And for those scoring at home, Every can become the first player to post his first three Tour titles at the same event since Leonard Gallett, who won the 1929, 1933 and 1934 Wisconsin PGA.

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Brooks Koepka rips into alma mater Florida State’s football

Brooks Koepka says he’s close and a lot closer than his alma mater, Florida State, to getting back to the top of the mountain.

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ORLANDO – Brooks Koepka caught the tail end of the Bobby Bowden era during his college tenure at Florida State University and departed in 2012 with the Seminoles on the verge of winning a national championship in 2013 and a flashback to its glory days. But the last few years have been lean and some might say comparable to the drought that Koepka has suffered since undergoing a stem-cell procedure on his left knee late last season. When asked what he thought of his alma mater hiring Mike Norvell to resurrect the program, Koepka let it be known who is closer to returning to the mountaintop.

“They got a longer way to go than I do,” he said. “They have got a few years. Hopefully mine doesn’t take that long.”

Indeed, Koepka, who has slipped to World No. 3, still has some work to do if he’s going to chase down Rory McIlroy this week after signing for an even-par 72 in the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Lodge & Club, which left him six strokes behind the World No. 1.

“Nothing to get excited about. Nothing to rave about. It’s not far off, but it’s still, it’s annoying,” Koepka said.

Koepka started his round on the back nine and endured a rollercoaster opening side. After a string of pars rounds to start his day, he took three putts at the par-3 14th and made bogey, but bounced back with back-to-back birdies, including a 37-foot birdie putt at 15. After the round, he’d forgotten about the long-range putt, but the 3-putt continued to gnaw on his mind.

“It’s just shots where I know if I’m in rhythm, it’s not, it’s going to be tight,” he said. “Still not, just not capitalizing on anything.”

Koepka swapped a bogey at 17 and a birdie at 18 to make the turn at 1 under.

On the front nine, he wedged to a foot at the par-5, 4th hole for a tap-in birdie and was skating along at 2 under until a couple of wayward drives – to the left on No. 8 and to the right at No. 9 – led to back-to-back bogeys.

It sent Koepka immediately to the practice tee with one of his coaches, Pete Cowen, to work on his full-swing mechanics.

“The last couple holes just kind of got away from me, but it shouldn’t be too long,” he said of his range session. “Like I said, it’s close. It’s not far away. But it has nothing to do with out here. I can hit it great out here. It’s about when the gun goes off… I’m still trying my ass off. I can promise you that.”

Koepka tees off his second round with Adam Scott and Jason Day Friday at 12:44 p.m. ET from the first tee.

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Justin Rose uses TaylorMade irons at Bay Hill

A week after using a new TaylorMade SIM driver at the Honda Classic, it appears that Justin Rose is making more equipment changes.

ORLANDO – A week after using a new TaylorMade SIM driver at the Honda Classic, Justin Rose is making more equipment changes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Rose, the winner of the 2018 FedEx Cup, had used a prototype set of Honma TR20 irons earlier this season, but there was a new set of TaylorMade P730 irons in his bag Wednesday for the pro-am at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge and again in Thursday’s first round of the tournament. He also had wedges from TaylorMade, Titleist and Wilson in the bag Wednesday.

Justin Rose's TaylorMade irons
Justin Rose’s TaylorMade P730 irons Wednesday at Bay Hill (David Dusek/Golfweek)

In January 2019, Rose signed an endorsement deal with Honma, becoming the Japanese company’s first PGA Tour staff player. Honma did not return Golfweek’s requests for information on Rose’s current status with the company. Rose had used TaylorMade equipment before joining Honma last year.

Rose is a 10-time winner on the PGA Tour, with his most-recent victory at the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open. He also has seven European Tour wins, has competed in five Ryder Cups and reached No. 1 on the Official World Golf Ranking in 2018.

Rose hasn’t had a great start to 2020. In three events, he missed two cuts and had a best finish of T-56 at the Genesis Invitational.

Billy Horschel leaves PXG, enters equipment free agency

Billy Horschel is no longer sponsored by PXG. The PGA Tour pro is now testing new equipment.

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ORLANDO – The target was a man about 400 yards away who was wearing a green shirt. Billy Horschel wanted his tee shot to finish in line with the unsuspecting man, and after a brief chat with swing guru Todd Anderson, Horschel slowly took his driver back, reached the top of his backswing and made a powerful move down to the ball. It rocketed into the steamy Florida sky, which at 10 a.m. was heating up quickly.

Horschel, who enters this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge ranked No. 35 on the Official World Golf Ranking, liked what he saw. That’s important, because Horschel broke ties with his sponsor, PXG, on Feb. 24 and became a free agent in the equipment world. Starting last week, the PXG logos on his hat and bag were gone, and that drive he hit Wednesday morning was with a new TaylorMade SIM driver.

“My team and I are always looking at how we can get better,” Horschel told Golfweek after his pro-am Wednesday. “At our level, the leaps and bounds are not as big as they are for recreational golfers and it can be hard to find that little quarter-shot or half-shot that we’re looking to improve. Over a little time, my team and I discussed it and felt there may be some possibilities with some other equipment that could help us improve my game.”

In addition to the TaylorMade driver, Horschel has been testing Titleist Vokey Design SM8 wedges this week. He plans to continue using his PXG irons and the Ping putter he has used for most of the last two seasons.

Billy Horschel’s golf bag at Bay Bill, with a TaylorMade driver, PXG irons and a Ping putter (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Pros change gear all the time. Putters come and go, new shafts are tested almost weekly and prototype clubs are often made available months before they show up at retail. What makes Horschel’s move unique is it comes just a week before the Players Championship and a month before the season’s first major, the 2020 Masters.

“I would rather have done this a couple of weeks ago,” Horschel said. But he added that making equipment changes now has some advantages too. This week he is playing his ninth consecutive Arnold Palmer Invitational, so he knows Bay Hill well. And next week at Pete Dye’s Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, Horschel will be enjoying a home game.

“The Players is my home, I know that track and I’m comfortable with it,” said Horschel, who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Since turning pro in 2009, Horschel, 33, has never been an equipment free agent. He signed a deal with Ping immediately after he finished at the University of Florida and moved to PXG in 2016.

When reached for comment, a PXG representative texted, “Billy has been a tremendous partner for the company since joining the PXG Troops in 2016. We are pleased and proud to have had him on staff and wish him nothing but the best in this new chapter.”

Horschel is not a fan of testing gear at PGA Tour events because there are a lot of distractions, but having access to all the club brands, shaft manufacturers and accessories makers in one place makes it convenient.

“Ideally, I’d be doing this stuff at home,” Horschel said. “I’ll do that going forward, but the driver testing is so crucial and you can do so much so quickly here with shafts and heads. Plus, these are all companies that I’ve never worked with before.”

Time will tell if Horschel’s gamble pays off. As the highest-ranked play in the PXG stable, he was paid well, but several golfers who play without equipment contracts have won recent major championships, including Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed.

“My team and I said, ‘Hey, if we can get something for Augusta that could possibly help us put on a green jacket, let’s not hesitate to do that.’ ”

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Rickie Fowler to use new Arnold Palmer inspired gear by Puma at Bay Hill

See the limited edition, Arnold Palmer-inspired shoes, bags, hats and accessories that Rickie Fowler will use at Bay Hill.

Whenever golfers hear the words “bay” and “hill” together, they are going to immediately think of Arnold Palmer, and that’s not going to change. The King passed away in 2016 and no current player pays homage to Palmer, and what he meant to golf, more visibly than Rickie Fowler. In addition to competing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational several times, and again this week, for the past few seasons Fowler has teamed with Cobra-Puma Golf to create limited-edition gear that pays tribute to Palmer.

That tradition continues this week at Bay Hill, and golf fans will have a chance to buy some of the same gear on Puma’s website and at select retailers, Puma has also announced people who make a donation to the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation this week will have a chance to win a trip to the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando to play the course, tour Palmer’s office and received Fowler-autographed gear. Click here to learn more about the charity sweepstakes.

Puma Vessal Arnold Palmer stand bag
Puma Vessal Arnold Palmer stand bag. (Puma)

The new API CobraVessel stand bag ($599) is not only designed to hold anything you might need on the course, according to the company it is 60 percent lighter than a typical stand bag. It is decorated in Arnie Camo, a pattern that was inspired by the iconic Palmer umbrella logo.

Puma Ignite NXT Arnie Camo
Puma Ignite NXT Arnie Camo (Puma)

The Puma Ignite NXT Arnie Camo shoes ($150) have the same Arnie Camo pattern on the outsole, heel and collar lining while the sock liner inside the shoe features Palmer’s signature.

Puma Proadapt Palmer
Puma Proadapt Palmer (Puma)

Palmer loved to fly so much that he got a pilot’s license and logged over 20,000 hours of flight time. The Puma Proadapt Palmer shoes ($250) not only offer lots of lateral stability and traction but honor Palmer’s favorite plane, the Cessna 750 Citation X. On the medial side, N1AP has been added, which was the tail number on Palmer’s plane and his signature has been added to the sock liner.

2020 Puma Arnold Palmer hats
The Latrobe and Bay Hill hats. (Puma)

Several different hats are also being offered ($35 each), including the Bay Hill and Latrobe hats.

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