There were whispers that big names might skip the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The whispers were very wrong.
Sure, the world’s No. 1 is taking the week off but there’s plenty of star power on hand this week to pay tribute to Arnold Palmer.
This week marks the first time that golf icon and tournament founder Arnold Palmer will not be on hand to oversee what turns out to be a darn good field.
Palmer may be gone but his memory and image loom large over the Bay Hill Club. A towering 13-foot bronze statue of Palmer, weighing some 1,392 pounds was unveiled at Bay Hill last week.
Former No. 1, now No. 2, Jason Day, the defending champion, is back in action along with No. 3 Rory McIlroy, No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama and No. 5 Henrik Stenson.
That’s enough star power for any event short of the WGC stops.
The real focus all week will be the memory of Palmer, who brought television to golf and paved the way for the huge money purses for today’s players.
“It’s a very different week for us with Arnie not being here with us,” said Stenson, an Orlando resident who lives at nearby Lake Nona. “He’s meant so much to the game of golf. We’ll do our best to make it a successful week and pay tribute to him and all he’s done for the game of golf.”
