2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Exploring History, Course, Prize Purse, Field And Top Picks Of The Next PGA Tour Event

Kunal Singh | 05/03/2024
Rory McIlroy

The PGA Tour is all set to host its third signature event of the season, the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational. The tournament will be played at Bay Hill Club and Lodge from March 7 to March 10. It will feature a limited player field of 80 players competing for a prize purse of $20 million.

In memory of Arnold Palmer in 2007, the US-based tour renamed the tournament from Bay Hill Invitational to what it is known today. Initially, back in 1966, the tournament was known as the Florida Citrus Open Invitational. Later on, its name changed multiple times.

Back in 2014, it was announced that the winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational would get a three-year exemption on the PGA Tour. Interestingly, it is one more than any other regular event on the US-based Tour. Then in 2017, the tournament started a tradition of gifting a red cardigan sweater to the winner in the memory of Palmer.

The historic event is played at Bay Hill Club and Lodge which was owned by Palmer since 1974. It has a length of 7,466 yards and 72 shots to par in a round. Tiger Woods is the most successful player in the history of the tournament. He has won the event eight times in his career. Also, only Arnold Palmer had a lifetime invitation to the tournament.

2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Prize Money

The prestigious PGA Tour event is one of the eight signature events in the 2024 season. So, it has an elevated prize purse of $20 million and the winner receives 20 percent of it, which is, $4 million. Meanwhile, only the top 50 players (including ties) on the leaderboard proceed into the final round. Henceforth, the player who ranks last alone will earn $52,000 in prize money.

Here is a look at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational prize money distribution:

Pos. Percent Prize Money
1 20% $4,000,000
2 11% $2,200,000
3 7% $1,400,000
4 5% $1,000,000
5 4.20% $840,000
6 3.80% $760,000
7 3.50% $700,000
8 3.23% $646,000
9 3% $600,000
10 2.78% $556,000
11 2.57% $514,000
12 2.36% $472,000
13 2.15% $430,000
14 1.95% $389,000
15 1.85% $369,000
16 1.75% $349,000
17 1.65% $329,000
18 1.55% $309,000
19 1.45% $289,000
20 1.35% $269,000
21 1.25% $250,000
22 1.17% $233,000
23 1.08% $216,000
24 1% $200,000
25 0.92% $184,000
26 0.84% $168,000
27 0.81% $161,000
28 0.77% $154,000
29 0.74% $147,000
30 0.70% $140,000
31 0.67% $133,000
32 0.63% $126,000
33 0.60% $119,000
34 0.57% $114,000
35 0.55% $109,000
36 0.52% $104,000
37 0.50% $99,000
38 0.47% $94,000
39 0.45% $90,000
40 0.43% $86,000
41 0.41% $82,000
42 0.39% $78,000
43 0.37% $74,000
44 0.35% $70,000
45 0.33% $66,000
46 0.31% $62,000
47 0.29% $58,000
48 0.28% $56,000
49 0.27% $54,000
50 0.26% $52,000

2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational: Top Players And Best Odds

The field of upcoming PGA Tour signature event features star golfers like the World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Despite struggling with his putting aspect of the game, he has best odds of +600 before Thursday at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Also featuring is World No. 2 Rory McIlroy, who will make his second consecutive start on the PGA Tour for the first time in the 2024 season. He has +850 odds before the opening round of the tournament.

The 2023 FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland has +1200 odds for the 2024 Arnold Palmer Invitational. The 20223 US Ryder Cup team players Xander Schauffele (+1400 odds) and Patrick Cantlay (+1600 odds) will also be seen playing at Bay Hill this week.

Last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Kurt Kitayama will also be seen returning to Bay Hill in hopes of defending his title. However, the odds do not favor the 31-year-old American golfer. He has +8000 odds before the first round of the tournament.

Who wins the 2024 edition of the prestigious PGA Tour signature event will only be answered on Sunday, March 11. Will it be any of the previous winners or a new champion, we got to wait and watch.

Post Edited By: Kunal Singh

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Kunal Singh

Kunal is a golf journalist for The SportsRush. He is an avid golf fan with a huge inclination towards Rory McIlroy's drive and Phil Mickelson's short game. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and is currently pursuing a MBA in Media Management. Before joining The SportsRush, he has already penned over 1300 articles. If not covering stories on golf, you can find him brainstorming various fiction stories, composing music, and playing snooker.

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