Arnold Palmer Invitational 2025: Everything you need to know
The second stop of the PGA Tour’s Florida swing is at Bay Hill Club and Lodge for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The tournament is also a PGA Tour Signature Event, which means the prize money is much higher than ordinary events, plus there is only a 70-man field, much lower than the Cognizant Classic last week.
Indeed, the event is one of only five throughout the PGA Tour season that are given invitational status, joining the Genesis Invitational, RBC Heritage, the Memorial and the Fort Worth Invitational.
Arnold Palmer bought the Bay Hill Club back in 1974 and the event has been staged there since 1979 as a successor to the Florida Citrus Open Invitational. The tournament has been operating under its current guise as the Arnold Palmer Invitational since 2007, having previously went under names such as the Bay Hill Classic, Hertz Bay Hill Classic and the Bay Hill invitational.
Tiger Woods has won the event a staggering eight times, while seven golfers have won twice, including defending champion Scottie Scheffler, claiming victories in 2022 and 2024.
Last year, Scheffler blew away the field, becoming the first man since Woods in 2012 to win by five shots or more, finishing the tournament at -15. Since 2007, the winning margin has been two strokes or fewer on 15 occasions, which points towards a tight finish on Sunday.
With the Players Championship taking place at TPC Sawgrass next week and the Masters just six weeks away, everyone in the field will be hoping for a good showing in Orlando.
Course details: Bay Hill Club and Lodge
The course is one of the most difficult on the PGA Tour. This year, the par-72 layout will play 7,466 yards long, ranking it tenth across the 47 courses used for tournaments in 2025.
The course was built in 1961 by Dick Wilson and features plenty of eye-catching holes. Thick rough means a premium will be placed on accuracy both off the tee and when approaching the raised greens.
The final three hole stretch is one of the toughest on tour. The short par-5 16th features water directly in front and beside the green. Those chasing might feel compelled to go for it in two, but this could be risky.
The par-3 17th is one of the most distinguished on tour, with bunkers surrounding the putting surface and the safe play is to nestle an iron shot into the heart of the green and walk away with par.
If a player comes through these two holes unscathed, they then have to negotiate the ruthless 18th. The tee shot itself isn’t difficult, but forget birdie if you land in the rough. The banana shaped green is guarded by water to the right with three bunkers wedged in place at the back of the green.
Scheffler played these three holes in a combined 4-under par last year, dropping no shots on either three in all four rounds.
The Field
The Arnold Palmer Invitational has one of the strongest fields of the year due to its signature status. Scheffler will defend, while Xander Schaueffle will make his second start of 2025 after recovering from an injury layoff.
With Europeans enjoying such a strong start to the PGA Tour season, it is no surprise to see a plethora of them gunning for another title. Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg and Tommy Fleetwood might have the best chance, but don’t rule out the likes of Sepp Straka or Robert MacIntyre this week.
The full field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational can be found here.
Arnold Palmer Invitational 2025 winner
Selected odds for the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Scottie Scheffler 7/2
Rory McIlroy 8/1
Ludvig Aberg 12/1
Xander Schauffele 14/1
Collin Morikawa 18/1
Justin Thomas 18/1
Hideki Matsuyama 25/1
Patrick Cantlay 25/1
Odds provided by Betway
Arnold Palmer Invitational 2025: Prize fund and how to watch
Due to the event holding signature status, a prize fund of $20m will be up for grabs this week. The winner wont only take home a cheque worth $4m, but they will also secure 700 FedEx Cup points while being presented with a red cardigan made famous by Mr. Palmer and this has been awarded since 2017, a year after his death.
Viewers in the US can watch all of the action on the Golf Channel. For those in the United Kingdom, Sky Sports Golf will broadcast all four days of the tournament.
Coverage will start at 7pm on Thursday and Friday, 5.30pm on Saturday and 4.30pm on Sunday.
Previous ten winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational
| Year | Winner | Score | Winner(s) share ($) |
| 2024 | Scottie Scheffler | -15 | 4,000,000 |
| 2023 | Kurt Kitayama | -9 | 3,600,000 |
| 2022 | Scottie Scheffler | -5 | 2,160,000 |
| 2021 | Bryson DeChambeau | -11 | 1,674,000 |
| 2020 | Tyrrell Hatton | -4 | 1,674,000 |
| 2019 | Francesco Molinari | -12 | 1,638,000 |
| 2018 | Rory McIlroy | -18 | 1,602,000 |
| 2017 | Marc Leishman | -11 | 1,566,000 |
| 2016 | Jason Day | -17 | 1,134,000 |
| 2015 | Matt Every | -19 | 1,134,000 |
