| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bay Hill, Florida |
| Established | 1966 |
| Course(s) | Bay Hill Club and Lodge |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,381 yards |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Format | Stroke play |
| Prize fund | $6,000,000 |
| Month played | March |
| Tournament record score | |
| Aggregate | 264 Payne Stewart (1987) |
| To par | -23 Buddy Allin (1973) |
| Current champion | |
| Martin Laird | |
The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a PGA Tour golf tournament. It is played each March at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a private golf resort in Bay Hill, Florida a suburb of Orlando which has been owned by Arnold Palmer since 1974 and where he has his winter home. The event was founded in 1979 as a successor to the Florida Citrus Open Invitational, which was played at Rio Pinar Golf Club on the East side of Orlando. It has had a number of different names since then, most of them including "Bay Hill". The tournament was played for the first time under the Palmer name in 2007.
As a restricted field event on the PGA Tour, only the first 70 players on the previous year's money-list are guaranteed invitations.[1]
Tiger Woods won what was then known as the Bay Hill Invitational four years in a row from 2000 to 2003. This is one of only four occasions that a golfer has won the same event four times in a row on the Tour. In 2004 he was one shot off the lead after opening with a 67, but followed up with back to back 74s on the Friday and Saturday, and ended the final round on Sunday in a tie for 46th place. Woods then won the 2008 and 2009 tournaments, both times with birdie putts on the final hole.
Contents |
The Arnold Palmer Invitational is one of only five tournaments given "invitational" status by the PGA Tour, and consequently it has a reduced field of only 120 players (as opposed to most full-field open tournaments with a field of 156 players). The other four tournaments with invitational status are The Heritage, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, the Memorial Tournament, and the AT&T National. Invitational tournaments have smaller fields (between 120 and 132 players), and have more freedom than full-field open tournaments in determining which players are eligible to participate in their event, as invitational tournaments are not required to fill their fields using the PGA Tour Priority Ranking System. Furthermore, unlike full-field open tournaments, invitational tournaments do not offer open qualifying (aka Monday qualifying).
| Year | Player | Country | Score | To Par | 1st Prize ($) | Purse ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard | ||||||
| 2011 | Martin Laird | Scotland | 280 | -8 | 1,080,000 | 6,000,000 |
| 2010 | Ernie Els | South Africa | 277 | -11 | 1,080,000 | 6,000,000 |
| 2009 | Tiger Woods | United States | 275 | -5 | 1,080,000 | 6,000,000 |
| 2008 | Tiger Woods | United States | 270 | -10 | 1,044,000 | 5,800,000 |
| 2007 | Vijay Singh | Fiji | 272 | -8 | 990,000 | 5,500,000 |
| Bay Hill Invitational presented by MasterCard | ||||||
| 2006 | Rod Pampling | Australia | 274 | -14 | 990,000 | 5,500,000 |
| 2005 | Kenny Perry | United States | 276 | -12 | 900,000 | 5,000,000 |
| 2004 | Chad Campbell | United States | 270 | -18 | 900,000 | 5,000,000 |
| Bay Hill Invitational presented by Cooper Tires | ||||||
| 2003 | Tiger Woods | United States | 269 | -19 | 810,000 | 4,500,000 |
| 2002 | Tiger Woods | United States | 275 | -13 | 720,000 | 4,000,000 |
| Bay Hill Invitational | ||||||
| 2001 | Tiger Woods | United States | 273 | -15 | 630,000 | 3,500,000 |
| 2000 | Tiger Woods | United States | 270 | -18 | 540,000 | 3,000,000 |
| 1999 | Tim Herron | United States | 274 | -14 | 450,000 | 2,500,000 |
| 1998 | Ernie Els | South Africa | 274 | -14 | 360,000 | 2,000,000 |
| 1997 | Phil Mickelson | United States | 272 | -16 | 270,000 | 1,500,000 |
| 1996 | Paul Goydos | United States | 275 | -13 | 216,000 | 1,200,000 |
| Nestle Invitational | ||||||
| 1995 | Loren Roberts | United States | 272 | -16 | 216,000 | 1,200,000 |
| 1994 | Loren Roberts | United States | 275 | -13 | 216,000 | 1,200,000 |
| 1993 | Ben Crenshaw | United States | 280 | -8 | 180,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 1992 | Fred Couples | United States | 269 | -19 | 180,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 1991 | Andrew Magee | United States | 203* | -13 | 180,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 1990 | Robert Gamez | United States | 274 | -14 | 162,000 | 900,000 |
| 1989 | Tom Kite | United States | 278 | -6 | 144,000 | 800,000 |
| Hertz Bay Hill Classic | ||||||
| 1988 | Paul Azinger | United States | 271 | -13 | 135,000 | 750,000 |
| 1987 | Payne Stewart | United States | 264 | -20 | 108,000 | 600,000 |
| 1986 | Dan Forsman | United States | 202* | -11 | 90,000 | 500,000 |
| 1985 | Fuzzy Zoeller | United States | 275 | -9 | 90,000 | 500,000 |
| Bay Hill Classic | ||||||
| 1984 | Gary Koch | United States | 272 | -12 | 72,000 | 400,000 |
| 1983 | Mike Nicolette | United States | 283 | -1 | 63,000 | 350,000 |
| 1982 | Tom Kite | United States | 278 | -6 | 54,000 | 300,000 |
| 1981 | Andy Bean | United States | 266 | -18 | 54,000 | 300,000 |
| 1980 | Dave Eichelberger | United States | 279 | -5 | 54,000 | 300,000 |
| Bay Hill Citrus Classic | ||||||
| 1979 | Bob Byman | United States | 278 | -6 | 45,000 | 250,000 |
| Florida Citrus Open | ||||||
| 1978 | Mac McLendon | United States | 271 | -17 | 40,000 | 200,000 |
| 1977 | Gary Koch | United States | 274 | -14 | 40,000 | 200,000 |
| 1976 | Hale Irwin | United States | 270 | -18 | 40,000 | 200,000 |
| 1975 | Lee Trevino | United States | 276 | -12 | 40,000 | 200,000 |
| 1974 | Jerry Heard | United States | 273 | -15 | 30,000 | 150,000 |
| 1973 | Buddy Allin | United States | 265 | -23 | 30,000 | 150,000 |
| 1972 | Jerry Heard | United States | 276 | -12 | 30,000 | 150,000 |
| Florida Citrus Invitational | ||||||
| 1971 | Arnold Palmer | United States | 270 | -18 | 30,000 | 150,000 |
| 1970 | Bob Lunn | United States | 271 | -17 | 30,000 | 150,000 |
| Florida Citrus Open Invitational | ||||||
| 1969 | Ken Still | United States | 278 | -10 | 23,000 | 115,000 |
| 1968 | Dan Sikes | United States | 274 | -14 | 23,000 | 115,000 |
| 1967 | Julius Boros | United States | 274 | -10 | 23,000 | 115,000 |
| 1966 | Lionel Hebert | United States | 279 | -5 | 21,000 | 110,000 |
* rain-shortened to 54 holes
Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records.
Sources[2][3]
Six men have won this tournament more than once through 2011.