2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational Thursday tee times: Round 1 pairings
InsideGOLF instantly pays for itself
The 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational is a Signature Event.
BRENNAN ASPLEN/GETTY IMAGES
The 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational begins Thursday, March 6, with the opening round at Bay Hill. You can find full Arnold Palmer Invitational tee times for Thursday’s first round at the bottom of this post.
For the first time in a long time, all the top players on the PGA Tour will be playing against each other in the same tournament at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
That includes defending champion Scottie Scheffler, the top-ranked golfer in the world, who is in search of his first win of the 2025 season. The Arnold Palmer will be Scheffler’s fourth start of the year after missing time due to injury. In his three previous starts, he has two top 10s.
Scheffler will tee off for the opening round on Thursday at 9:45 a.m. ET, and he’ll play the first two rounds alongside Ludvig Åberg.
You can watch Thursday’s first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational from 2-6 p.m. ET on Golf Channel. You can also stream exclusive online coverage via PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ starting at 7:30 a.m. ET.
You can check out the complete Round 1 tee times for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational below.
Tee No. 1
7:40 a.m. – Brian Campbell, Jacob Bridgeman
7:50 a.m. – Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee
8:00 a.m. – J.J. Spaun, Aldrich Potgieter
8:10 a.m. – Aaron Rai, Sungjae Im
8:20 a.m. – Max Homa, Adam Hadwin
8:30 a.m. – Taylor Pendrith, Sahith Theegala
8:40 a.m. – Billy Horschel, Jason Day
8:50 a.m. – Tommy Fleetwood, Cameron Young
9:05 a.m. – Akshay Bhatia, Matthieu Pavon
9:15 a.m. – Davis Thompson, Eric Cole
9:25 a.m. – Austin Eckroat, Byeong Hun An
9:35 a.m. – Cam Davis, Si Woo Kim
9:45 a.m. – Ludvig Åberg, Scottie Scheffler
9:55 a.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Viktor Hovland
10:05 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, Collin Morikawa
10:20 a.m. – Andrew Novak, Max McGreevy
10:30 a.m. – Daniel Berger, Ben Griffin
10:40 a.m. – Lucas Glover, Michael Kim
10:50 a.m. – Isaiah Salinda, Jackson Koivun (a)
11:00 a.m. – Maverick McNealy, Mackenzie Hughes
11:10 a.m. – Nick Taylor, Sam Stevens
11:20 a.m. – J.T. Poston, Brian Harman
11:35 a.m. – Thomas Detry, Adam Scott
11:45 a.m. – Robert MacIntyre, Matt Fitzpatrick
11:55 a.m. – Denny McCarthy, Max Greyserman
12:05 p.m. – Stephan Jaeger, Corey Conners
12:15 p.m. – Nick Dunlap, Will Zalatoris
12:25 p.m. – Chris Kirk, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
12:35 p.m. – Sepp Straka, Tony Finau
12:50 p.m. – Russell Henley, Tom Hoge
1:00 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry
1:10 p.m. – Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas
1:20 p.m. – Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns
1:30 p.m. – Joe Highsmith, Patrick Cantlay
1:40 p.m. – Justin Rose, Patrick Rodgers
1:50 p.m. – Harris English, Rafael Campos
Golf.com Editor
As senior managing producer for GOLF.com, Cunningham edits, writes and publishes stories on GOLF.com, and manages the brand’s e-newsletters, which reach more than 1.4 million subscribers each month. A former two-time intern, he also helps keep GOLF.com humming outside the news-breaking stories and service content provided by our reporters and writers, and works with the tech team in the development of new products and innovative ways to deliver an engaging site to our audience.
INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT – AND MUCH MORE!
© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved.
LATEST IN NEWS
RELATED ARTICLES
Featured tee time for Round 1
2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational tee times for Thursday: Round 1 (ET)
How 2 caddies became the API’s most interesting pairing
Arnold Palmer Invitational Subpar picks: Top-20 bets to watch
Does major change to Bay Hill make it easier or harder? We’re about to find out
Jay Monahan’s latest update on PGA Tour-LIV deal strikes different tone
What putting grip is most popular among PGA Tour’s best putters?
Arnold Palmer Invitational betting guide: 4 picks our gambling expert loves
PGA Tour to cut TV commercials, add caddie convos to Arnold Palmer telecast
TGL schedule: How to watch Tiger Woods’ final match of the year
Jordan Spieth’s frosty response to API snub highlights PGA Tour dilemma
Get ESPN+
Does the PGA Tour still need a deal with PIF? Rory McIlroy answers
How 2 caddies became the API’s most interesting pairing
Arnold Palmer Invitational Subpar picks: Top-20 bets to watch
Does major change to Bay Hill make it easier or harder? We’re about to find out
Kevin Cunningham
Bolton: Burn the boats at Bay Hill
More
4 Min Read
Golfbet News
Ludvig Åberg’s top shots of the season, so far
A
Change Text Size
We’ve arrived at the finish line! Well, it’s the first of three, really, but the imminent reset is revitalizing.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard is the last of 10 tournaments contributing to Segment 1 of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by PGA TOUR Superstore. This means that you don’t have to think about roster management. All golfers will be replenished with three starts when Segment 2 launches with THE PLAYERS Championship next week.
Because of injuries to Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, and because Rory McIlroy has played just twice, juggling starts hasn’t been a hassle for our favorite charges. Consider that Scheffler was in position to make as many as six starts in Segment 1 until he sliced his hand on Christmas Day. His title defense at Bay Hill Club & Lodge is just his fourth of 2025.
As the trio reunites for the first time this year, each presents an angle considerably different from the other, yet all remain hot commodities. McIlroy (72.8% as of Tuesday afternoon), Scheffler (67.1%) and Schauffele (42.5%) slot a respective first, second and fourth in ownership percentage. At 60.6%, Ludvig Åberg is third. The Swede deserves it, so Schauffele’s split speaks more to the concern in his return from injury. With a 36-hole cut this week, it’s even more understandable. More on all of these guys below.
Meanwhile, because it can be easy to chase only the brightest of lights, the sharpest of forms and horses for the course, it’s just as easy to overlook notables on whom we rely almost as often as the cornerstones of this week. Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Hideki Matsuyama and many others present just as much punch and should not be marginalized as relative favorites to prevail and pay off 70 FedExCup bonus points for the victory in the Signature Event.
If this week’s winner at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge isn’t McIlroy, Scheffler or Åberg, then very few gamers will have connected with their captain for victory. Accepting that as a reasonable possibility, the difference in fantasy will be in the trenches that consist of the other three guys on your roster. And if you subscribe to the “not-McIlroy/Scheffler/Åberg” win, then designate another household name as your captain. The timing is superb.
Rory McIlroy … As loyalists are aware, my third rule of playing fantasy golf is to remain fluid. So, yeah, this qualifies!
When I wrote the primer for the fantasy game in mid-December, I didn’t think that I’d be in position to be enticed to consider anyone else but Scottie Scheffler as my captain every time I rostered him. But then he injured his hand and started late. He returned with a T9 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am won by McIlroy, so the 2018 champ at Bay Hill has the early edge on the winner of the 2022 and 2024 editions. That works for me.
If I was the front-runner in my little league – I’m second; look for my weekly table on Wednesday with the standings on X – Scheffler would get the call here, but my rank warrants what presents as a surprising pivot to McIlroy because both guys should contend for the title. Moments to opt for the edge route without much risk emerge infrequently.
Other considerations
Outside of McIlroy and Scheffler for whom this start was planned, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that I had at least one start remaining for all of the others inside the top six in my Power Rankings when I set my roster.
My starters
My bench
For almost every tournament, a usually impressive subset of the field warrants avoiding, and it might be represented in my Power Rankings which is not written in the context of any fantasy golf format. In this section, I single out who demands pause and why.
Xander Schauffele … Making his fourth start at Bay Hill and still in search of his first top 20. He’s been sidelined by an acute intercostal strain since early January and felt ready to start practicing in earnest only within the last two weeks. While he’s in the rarest of positions (for him) as a contrarian in fantasy and DFS, more notably perhaps is that his consecutive cuts-made streak of 57 is in play. Flirt with that prop in markets where available. Also be advised that he’s scheduled to meet with the media on Wednesday, so he might share some intel that can be of assistance for our purposes.
Jackson Suber … As of Tuesday afternoon, the rookie is among eight who withdrew after the commitment deadline and who didn’t qualify for the Arnold Palmer Invitational via the Aon Next 10 or Aon Swing 5. However, he’s the only of his subset of WDs who sits inside the last bubble for entry into THE PLAYERS Championship next week. As detailed in the latest edition of Qualifiers, there are 131 automatic qualifiers for the PGA TOUR’s flagship event. After the winners of both tournaments this weekend are added, if not already eligible, the current FedExCup standings will be used to fill the field in order. At 93rd, Suber is not in jeopardy of getting bumped, so he’s resting ahead of his debut at TPC Sawgrass.
For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.
View All News
Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard
-1
E
E
View Leaderboard
Copyright © 2025 PGA TOUR, Inc. All rights reserved.
PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions, and the Swinging Golfer design are registered trademarks. The Korn Ferry trademark is also a registered trademark, and is used in the Korn Ferry Tour logo with permission.
Stats show how Scheffler’s putting has improved since switching to Spider
McIlroy explains big gear changes at Arnold Palmer Invitational
DFS Dish: Lean on Åberg to power lineups at Bay Hill
Captain
Rounding out the roster
Careful
Returning to competition
Notable WDs
THE TOUR
Partnerships
Quick Links
Shop
Apps
2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational expert picks, predictions: Golf insider backing Patrick Cantlay at Bay Hill
The PGA Tour continues its Florida swing this week with the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, which begins on Thursday. It is another Signature Event, meaning some of the top golfers in the world are competing in the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational field. Kevin Chappell is the only golfer in the last seven years to register four rounds in the 60s in the same tournament at this course, and challenging conditions are expected again this year. Defending champion Scottie Scheffler is the +320 favorite (risk $100 to win $320) in the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational odds, while past champion Rory McIlroy is +750 on the PGA odds board. McIlroy has racked up six career top-10 finishes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the most of any player since 2015.
Jason Day is the only other past champion in the field, but he is an 80-1 longshot. Scheffler is -140 (risk $140 to win $100) to finish inside the top five, while Day is +500 (risk $100 to win $500) to crack the top 10. Scheffler will tee off alongside Ludvig Aberg at 9:45 a.m. ET on Thursday. Aberg is the current FedEx Cup leader and is +1600 to finish on top of the leaderboard. Which golfers should you back with your 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational bets? Before making any 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational picks, you need to see the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational predictions and best bets from golf insider Patrick McDonald.
McDonald joined CBS Sports as a golf writer in 2022 after stops at NBC Sports and RyderCup.com. Covering the sport from a broader perspective, McDonald still likes to dip his toes into the betting pools on a weekly basis between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and more. Featured weekly on the Early Wedge, he gave out numerous winners in 2024, including Jake Knapp (50-1) at the Mexico Open and Xander Schauffele (20-1) at the PGA Championship. He already nailed Sepp Straka as a 66-1 longshot in The American Express this year. Anyone who followed his betting picks could have been way up on betting apps and sportsbooks.
Now, McDonald has focused his attention on the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational field and locked in his best bets and top longshot sleepers. You can only see them here.
McDonald loves the value of Patrick Cantlay at +3000 (risk $100 to win $3,000) this week. Bay Hill is one of the most challenging tests on the PGA Tour, creating serious problems for missed fairways and playing from the rough. Cantlay is one of the top golfers in the field in terms of ball striking on similar courses, using precision to his advantage in these conditions.
He is also one of nine players in the field who rank inside the top 40 on the PGA Tour in strokes gained around the green, scrambling and bogey avoidance. Cantlay has made the cut in all four of his tournaments this season, carding top-five finishes in the American Express and the Genesis Invitational. He finished T4 in the Arnold Palmer Invitational two years ago, and McDonald expects him to be in contention on Sunday again this weekend.
“The putter has turned around drastically from the downturn in 2024 and the iron play has followed suit as well. He’s doing everything well at the moment which should translate to success at a difficult test like Bay Hill,” McDonald told SportsLine. See who else to back here.
McDonald has locked in his best bets for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational and has also selected an epic longshot who’s priced over 160-1. This golfer has the “ability to navigate rounds in this type of scoring environment.” You can only see the picks at SportsLine.
So which players should you target for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational, and which golfer could bring a huge payday of more than 160-1? Check out the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Patrick McDonald’s top picks for the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational, all from the expert who gave out Sepp Straka as a 66-1 longshot at the 2025 American Express.
See the full Arnold Palmer Invitational picks, best bets and predictions here.
Scottie Scheffler +320
Rory McIlroy +750
Ludvig Aberg +1600
Xander Schauffele +1600
Collin Morikawa +2200
Hideki Matsuyama +2500
Justin Thomas +2800
Patrick Cantlay +3000
Tommy Fleetwood +3500
Sungjae Im +4500
Will Zalatoris +5000
Sam Burns +5500
Keegan Bradley +5500
Matt Fitzpatrick +5500
Viktor Hovland +5500
Maverick McNealy +5500
Wyndham Clark +6000
Robert MacIntyre +6000
Tony Finau +6000
Russell Henley +6500
Shane Lowry +6500
Daniel Berger +6500
Sepp Straka +7000
Corey Conners +7000
Taylor Pendrith +7000
Tom Kim +7500
Michael Kim +8000
Jason Day +8000
Si Woo Kim +8000
Ben Griffin +8000
Akshay Bhatia +8000
Jake Knapp +8000
Denny Mccarthy +9000
Adam Scott +9000
Min Woo Lee +9000
Davis Thompson +9000
Billy Horschel +10000
Aaron Rai +11000
Max Greyserman +11000
J.J. Spaun +11000
Samuel Stevens +11000
Patrick Rodgers +11000
Cameron Young +11000
Sahith Theegala +11000
Thomas Detry +11000
Lucas Glover +12000
Brian Harman +12000
Alex Smalley +12000|
J.T. Poston +12000
Aldrich Potgieter +12000
Byeong Hun An +12000
Taylor Moore +12000
Nick Taylor +15000
Stephan Jaeger +15000
Isaiah Salinda +15000
Here are some of the sportsbooks to bet on the Arnold Palmer Invitational, along with the various PGA Tour sportsbook promos they currently offer.
© 2004-2025 CBS Interactive. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc.
The content on this site is for entertainment purposes only and CBS Sports makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the information given or the outcome of any game or event. There is no gambling offered on this site. This site contains commercial content and CBS Sports may be compensated for the links provided on this site.
Images by Getty Images and Imagn
