By Amanda Cencer
The PGA Tour continues this week as it visits Bay Hill Club & Lodge for the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Read on below to see guest predictor Amanda Cencer’s prediction for who will win the tournament, as well as her predictions for who will finish in the top 10, her dark horse, and her player to fade.
Winner: Sunjae Im- Sunjae is coming off a missed cut from last week, but we all know for solid players that that can be the boost they need for the following week. Sunjae likes Bay Hill, as he has had two top-5 finishes there, showing what he is capable of. His overall performance at this course is destined to pay off and 2022 is the year to do so.
Top 10: Keith Mitchell- While Mitchell just finished inside the top-10 at the Honda, he has had some great starts in the 5 starts he has had this year. Mitchell has such control off the tee, which will favor him immensely at Bay Hill. The thick rough isn’t forgiving and he is coming off some solid play for 2022. Not to mention his last couple starts at the API, he was inside the top-10, so it should be the same game, different year.
Dark Horse: Marc Leishman- Leishman isn’t favored very well going into The API, but we always see him hovering in the top-25 here, including a 2nd place finish in 2020. He is fairly inconsistent, but with this course, he seems to like it and he feels comfortable playing it. This course doesn’t offer a huge variety in approach shots, so as long as he is striking the ball, he should be fine and actually might surprise us all.
Player to Fade: Scottie Scheffler- While we all cheered as Scottie took the win at the WM Phoenix Open, we just can’t help but wonder if that was a heat of the moment win. He is young and still getting his feet wet when it comes to full-time tour play. With his week off, he might find himself with a little too much energy at Bay Hill. This course is known to require so much discipline and control on every hole. This might be the week Scottie has to go through about how to learn to control the highs as well as the lows out there.