Defending champion Tiger Woods leads field of 120 players
The 31st Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard will feature defending champion Tiger Woods along with most of the players from the recent Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams. The PGA Tour event is scheduled for March 23-29 at the Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida.
The world’s No. 1 player and a five-time winner at Bay Hill, Woods will be joined by the other two current major champions, Trevor Immelman and Padraig Harrington, among 29 players entered from the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
In addition to Woods, past Bay Hill winners in the field of 120 players are Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry, Fred Couples, Paul Azinger, Chad Campbell, Rod Pampling, Tim Herron, Andrew Magee, Paul Goydos and Robert Gamez. Nine members of Captain Azinger’s victorious 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team are entered. They are Campbell, Perry, Stewart Cink, Ben Curtis, Jim Furyk, J.B. Holmes, Anthony Kim, Hunter Mahan and Boo Weekley. From the European Ryder Cup team are Harrington, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Oliver Wilson.
The latest Presidents Cup teams, from 2007, will be well-represented with 10 players from the American team and eight from the International team. These include U.S. players Woody Austin, Lucas Glover, Charles Howell III, Zach Johnson, David Toms and Scott Verplank, and International players Stuart Appleby, Angel Cabrera, Retief Goosen, Nick O’Hern, Adam Scott and Mike Weir.
Among the 19 players who received sponsor exemptions is Rocco Mediate, appearing in a tournament with Woods for the first time since their playoff at the U.S. Open last June. Woods had surgery on his left knee after that and did not play again until last month. This will be his third tournament of 2009.
For tickets or more information on the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard, log on to the tournament web site, www.arnoldpalmerinvitational.com or call the Bay Hill ticket office at 407-876- 7774 or toll free at 1-866-764-4843. Tournament proceeds benefit the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies.