Arnold Palmer Invitational Tournament Notes 2016

Arnold Palmer Invitational Tournament Notes

Dates: March 14-20, 2016
Where: Bay Hill Club and Lodge
Par/Yards: 72/7,419 yards
Field size: 120
2015 champion: Matt Every
Purse: $6,300,000 ($1,134,000 to winner)
FedExCup: 500 points to the winner
Format: 72-hole stroke play
Website: arnoldpalmerinvitational.com

Facebook: arnoldpalmerinvitational

Twitter: @APInv
How the Arnold Palmer Invitational was won in 2015 by Matt Every

• Defending champion Matt Every, who entered the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational trailing Henrik Stenson by three strokes, carded a final-round 6-under 66 (highlighted by a 16’10” birdie on the 72nd hole) to edge Stenson by one stroke, marking the ninth-consecutive come-from-behind winner on the PGA TOUR.
• Every joined Tiger Woods and Loren Roberts (1994-95) as the only players to win in back-to-back years at Bay Hill. Roberts, like Every, also posted his first two career victories at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

How the Arnold Palmer Invitational was won in 2014 by Matt Every

• Adam Scott jumped out of the gate with a 10-under 62, tying the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard record and his career-low round.
• He entered the final round with a three-stroke lead over Keegan Bradley, but was unable to secure wire-to-wire victory following a 4-over 76 on Sunday, ultimately finishing third. Matt Every, who entered the day four strokes behind Scott, posted a 2-under 70 for a one-stroke victory over Bradley (72) and his first career PGA TOUR title.

SOURCE: PGA TOUR

More on Matt Every

• Every will attempt in 2016 to become the first player to post his first three PGA TOUR victories at the same event since Leonard Gallett (1929, 1933, 1934 Wisconsin PGA).
• Every will attempt to become the first player to win the same event three consecutive years since Steve Stricker won the John Deere Classic (2009-2011).
• Every’s victory in 2015 came in his 118th start of his PGA TOUR at the age of 31 years, 3 months, 18 days.
• Multiple Arnold Palmer Invitational winners: Tiger Woods (8), Tom Kite (2), Roberts (2), Ernie Els (2), Every (2).
• In 2014, Every became the first player to record his first TOUR victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational since Paul Goydos in 1996.
• Every won in his fifth and sixth start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (T52-2010, MC-2011, T24-2012, T34-2013, Won-2014, Won-2015).
• Every became the TOUR’s first player to post his first two career wins at the same event since Boo Weekley won the 2007 and 2008 RBC Heritage.
• Since 2008, with his back-to-back wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2014 and 2015, Matt Every became just the 14th player (11th different player) to successfully defend a PGA TOUR title from the previous year.
• Every’s four-stroke comeback victory in 2014 was the first at the Arnold Palmer Invitational since Tiger Woods overcame 54-hole leader Sean O’Hair in 2009. Every came from three strokes back to win in 2015.

A glance at the field

• Eighteen of the top 30 players in the current FedExCup standings, led by Adam Scott (1), Kevin Kisner (2), Brandt Snedeker (3), Kevin Na (7), Smylie Kaufman (8), Graeme McDowell (9).
• Five of the top eight and 13 of the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by Rory McIlroy (2), Jason Day (3), Adam Scott (6), Henrik Stenson (7), Justin Rose (8).
• Three of the last four FedExCup champions: Billy Horschel, Henrik Stenson and Brandt Snedeker.
• Seventeen major championship winners, led by multiple winners Ernie Els (4), Rory McIlroy (4), Vijay Singh (3), Angel Cabrera (2), Retief Goosen (2), Zach Johnson (2).
• Past Arnold Palmer Invitational champions in the field: Matt Every, Ernie Els, Martin Laird, Vijay Singh, Chad Campbell, Tim Herron and Robert Gamez
• Top-ranked OWGR players headed to Bay Hill
  • Five of the top eight ranked players in the world will play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational this year. Here’s a recap of how they’ve fared at Bay Hill in the past:
    • Rory McIlroy – World No. 2 Rory McIlroy making second career Arnold Palmer Invitational start (T11-2015).
    • Jason Day – World No. 3 Jason Day will make his sixth start at Bay Hill. His best finish is T17 in 2015.
    • Adam Scott – World No. 6 Adam Scott owns two top-10 finishes (3-2014, T3-2004) in eight previous starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. In 2014, Scott held the lead at Bay Hill after the first three rounds before a final-round 76 derailed his bid for a wire-to-wire win. With 13 official victories, Scott owns more TOUR titles than any active player under the age of 40.
    • Henrik Stenson – Orlando resident and World No. 7 Henrik Stenson will make eighth start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, finishing inside the top 15 in his last four starts (2-2015, T5-2014, T8-2013, T15-2012).
    • Justin Rose – World No. 8 Justin Rose owns three top-10 finishes in 10 prior starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (2-2013, T3-2011, T8-2006).
• Maverick McNealy making first start at Bay Hill
  • Maverick McNealy, a current All-American at Stanford University, will participate at Bay Hill with the distinction as the first player to earn an exemption into the event via his participation in the Arnold Palmer Cup.
  • Last year, at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill., he posted a 2-2 record to help the United States reclaim the Cup with an 18-12 victory over Europe in the annual match play competition.
  • McNealy was chosen by his peers at that event as the player who best represents the “Arnold Palmer Legacy,” earning him the exemption into this year’s Invitational.
  • In 2015, McNealy was named the top collegiate golfer after leading NCAA Division I with six victories, including a 10-stroke runaway victory at the PAC-12 Championship. His 69.05 stroke average last year was the second best average in NCAA history.
  • McNealy owns three amateur starts on the PGA TOUR: 2014 U.S. Open (MC), 2015 Greenbrier Classic (T60), 2015 Barbasol Championship (T78).
• While competing for Southern Methodist University in 2015, Bryson DeChambeau became just the fifth golfer in history to win both the U.S. Amateur Championship and NCAA Division I golf championship in the same season.
  • He will play the Arnold Palmer Invitational after accepting an exemption traditionally extended to the U.S. Amateur champion.
  • Here’s a look at DeChambeau’s three amateur starts on the PGA TOUR: 2015 FedEx St. Jude Classic (T45), 2015 U.S. Open (MC), 2015 John Deere Classic (MC).
• In 2015, Kevin Na finished T6 for his fifth top-15 finish in eight starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (MC-2005, MC-2006, T11-2009, T2-2010, T30-2011, T4-2012, T14-2014, T6-2015).
• Ernie Els will tee it up at the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the 21st time this week. The two-time champion (1998, 2010) of the event most recently finished T13 in 2015.
• In his sixth start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Arnold Palmer’s grandson Sam Saunders finished T29 in 2015. Here’s a look at his finishes at this event: MC (2006), T50 (2010), T30 (2011), MC (2012), T43 (2014) and T29 (2015).

Miscellaneous Notes

• For the second-consecutive season, the winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard (along with the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide) will receive a three-year exemption, instead of the two-year exemption awarded at other PGA Tour events.
• Martin Laird, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, is the only European winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational (2011). He is just the fourth international-born player to win, joining South African Ernie Els (1998 and 2010), Australian Rod Pampling (2006) and Vijay Singh of Fiji (2007).
• There have only been six multiple winners on the Florida swing since 1980, including Adam Scott (2016), Ernie Els (2010), Tiger Woods (2001 and 2013), Steve Elkington (1997), Tom Kite (1989) and Ray Floyd (1981).
• Tiger Woods has won eight Arnold Palmer Invitational titles. The only other players with multiple victories at the event are Tom Kite (1982, 1989), Loren Roberts (1994-95), Ernie Els (1998, 2010) and Matt Every (2014, 2015).
• The 2016 Arnold Palmer Invitational will mark the 38th year at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Prior to arriving at Bay Hill, the tournament—then known as the Florida Citrus Open—was held at Rio Pinar Country Club from 1966-78.The name of the tournament was changed in 2007 from the Bay Hill Invitational to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, in honor of its longtime host, Arnold Palmer.
• In 2015, Daniel Berger (No. 6, round three) and Zach Johnson (No. 16, round four) both recorded an albatross at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (marking the first at the event since the TOUR began keeping records in 1983). It marked the sixth time since 1983 that a stroke-play tournament has featured multiple albatrosses (Note: the final round of The International featured two albatrosses in the Modified Stableford Scoring system):
  • 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational
  • 2007 THE PLAYERS
  • 2005 Shriners Hospitals for Children Ope
  • 2005 Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation
  • 2001 Open Championship
  • 1988 Provident Classic

Charity

• The PGA TOUR and its tournaments continue a commitment to charity through the “Together, anything’s possible” initiative.
• In January of 2014, the TOUR and its tournaments announced it had collectively surpassed $2 billion in all-time charitable giving, including well over $1 billion over the last nine years.
• The Arnold Palmer Invitational remains a leader of giving back to communities.
• The tournament is very proud to support Arnie’s Army Charitable Foundation, which includes the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies.