Is it Woods’ time at Bay Hill
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2011 Arnold Palmer Invitational | Preview | 23 Mar 2011
With just the Houston Open between this week’s PGA Tour event and the opening major of the year, The Masters, the Arnold Palmer Invitational provides a further insight into just what might transpire at Augusta National.
The Bay Hill Club and Lodge is a Dick Wilson and Joe Lee designed layout tweaked by its new owner Arnold Palmer. It is located south and west of Orlando.
Although played in very different environment to that the game’s leading players will face in Georgia, the timing of the event is important in order to provide a much needed confidence boost ahead of what for many is the holy grail of tournament golf.
In 2010 Ernie Els won the second of his two events in the Florida swing defeating Edoardo Molinari and Kevin Na. It was also Els’ second win in the event having first won in 1998. Els is not at his peak but he is perhaps not as far from it as his recent finishes would suggest.
Tiger Woods is looking for his 7th victory at Bay Hill and the manner in which he finished off the WGC Cadillac suggests that milestone might not be the forlorn hope it was through 54 holes of the tournament at Doral. His final round of 66 was chalk and cheeses compared to some of his form early in the week and if he has been able to build on that in the interim then he could well win for the first time in 16 months.
Woods has won this event in each of his last two times to the event, his personal circumstances precluding him from playing the event in 2010.
Graeme McDowell finished runner-up to Kenny Perry, the first time he played this event in 2005 and there is little doubting he is a significantly better player now. His recent form has taken him to number four in the world and although his effort at Doral was disappointing, so well was he playing prior that he must be a great chance to continue on with that.
Dustin Johnson was brilliant at Doral when runner-up to Nick Watney and although he has done nothing special in his two visits to this event he is sure to do much better this week.
Justin Rose appears to me to be close to winning form. He played very well last week at the Transitions and has made five of six cuts in this event albeit without a lot of success. Rose has been solid for much of this season and has shown in the past when he finds form he holds it.
Hunter Mahan has played this event well in recent years and with four top ten finishes in his last six starts this season he looks well placed to improve on his previous best of 6th in this event in 2008.
Robert Allenby might be the best of the Australians in the field. Not only is he the leading world ranked Australian in the field but he has played this event well on occasions and is in reasonable form in 2011.
Stuart Appleby has twice been runner-up in this event and is certainly playing well enough of late to lead the Australians this week.
Other Australians in the field are Michael Sim, Marc Leishman, Jarrod Lyle, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Nick O’Hern, John Senden and Rod Pampling.
Pampling is a former winner and although without status on the PGA Tour at present he has the chance to play this week because of his victory in 2006.
