Following a week which many top pros took off, all the stars are back this week for the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational. After investigating the pre-tournament betting odds, we’ve tapped one former FedEx Cup champion as our long-shot bet of the week at Bay Hill. Here’s our pick, the betting favorites and everything else you need to know for the week.
Arnold Palmer Invitational odds: Long-shot bet
Just one week removed from back-to-back designated events on the PGA Tour, the best players in the game are set to embark on another back-to-back designated stretch, beginning with this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Billy Horschel’s goals sound insane. That’s why they’re cool
With all the top players in the field, this is a tough week for long shots, but we think Billy Horschel is an ideal pick. The 2014 FedEx Cup champion has long odds this week to the tune of +10000 to win. Despite the fact that Horschel’s results so far in 2023 haven’t been promising, we think that’s a bet well worth taking for multiple reasons.
Horschel is a seven-time PGA Tour champion, which means he’s proven he has the genes of a winner many times over. Currently ranked No. 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he had a great season last year, collecting five top-10 finishes and a big victory at the Memorial in June. More importantly, Horschel finished runner-up at last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, one shot behind winner and current No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
Should you entrust $10 with Horschel to win at Bay Hill this week and he beats the odds and pulls it off, you could walk away with $1,000. That also means he’ll have solid odds for a top-10 finish if you’re looking for less risk, or you could place bets on both so if he plays well but doesn’t come out on top, you’ll still come away with a little money.
Other long shots worth a look this week are a few pros who have been featured here recently, including Adam Scott (+10000), Sepp Straka (+12500) and Beau Hossler (+15000).
How last week’s long shot fared
Last week we came our closest yet this year to having our long-shot pick pull off a victory. Early in the week, we identified Sepp Straka as our long-shot pick. Straka had +5000 odds-to-win before the tournament began, which seemed like far too long considering he was the defending champion.
Straka put up a valiant effort to capture his second Honda Classic victory in a row, but eventually he finished T5, five shots out of the playoff won by Chris Kirk. While our bet for Straka to win didn’t pan out, had you placed an additional bet on him to finish in the top 10 or top 5, you made back your money and then some.
PAST RESULTS
2023 Honda Classic: Sepp Straka (Odds: +5000; Finish: T5)
2023 Genesis Invitational: Adam Scott (Odds: +5500; Finish: 65)
2023 WM Phoenix Open: Rickie Fowler (Odds: +8000; Finish: T10)
2023 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Beau Hossler (Odds +8000; Finish: T11)
2023 Farmers Insurance Open: Rickie Fowler (Odds: +10000; Finish: T11)
2023 Sony Open in Hawaii: Kurt Kitayama (Odds: +5000; Finish: T73)
2023 Sentry Tournament of Champions: Ryan Brehm (Odds: +75000; Finish: T35)
Arnold Palmer Invitational odds: The favorites
Given that the Arnold Palmer is now a designated event, the top of the field once again reads like the summit of the Official World Golf Ranking. New No. 1 Jon Rahm, who is looking for his fourth PGA Tour win of 2023, leads the way once again with +650 odds-to-win.
Rory McIlroy and Scheffler, the defending champion, are knotted in second at +1000, with Max Homa coming in third at +1600.
You can see the top 15 in Arnold Palmer Invitational betting odds as of Monday morning at the bottom of this post, or head over to BetMGM to see the full list of odds and bets for this week.
2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational betting odds (Top 15 and ties)
Jon Rahm (+650)
Rory McIlroy (+1000)
Scottie Scheffler (+1000)
Max Homa (+1600)
Collin Morikawa (+1800)
Patrick Cantlay (+2000)
Tony Finau (+2000)
Xander Schuaffele (+2000)
Justin Thomas (+2200)
Will Zalatoris (+2200)
Viktor Hovland (+3000)
Jason Day (+3300)
Sungjae Im (+3300)
Tyrrell Hatton (+3300)
Cameron Young (+3500)
